A machete-wielding robber ran out of a service station he was attempting to raid after a male employee chased him with a tiny fish knife.

Police are still hunting the cowardly criminal, who turned on his heel and fled from the Boaz Island Shell Service Station and Marina in Sandys on Wednesday evening.

The part-owner of the station, who asked not to be named, told The Royal Gazette that the security camera footage of the incident was "the funniest thing to see".

"This guy was carrying a two-foot machete and he was running away from a two-inch fillet knife. If I was to get a copy of this and send it to 'America's Funniest' I know we would win $10,000 and I wouldn't be surprised if we won $100,000," he said. "It's unbelievable."

The man said there were two male workers in the station at about 6.50 p.m. when the robber burst in, wearing a full face dark helmet with a black visor and brandishing the machete.

He would not name the 27-year-old part-time staff member, from Pembroke, who picked up a small fish knife, ran out from behind the counter and chased the intruder away.

"My worker was determined. He did a very good job. I told him he's a hero but he's also a fool because he risked his life.

"I said: 'I'm insured for this nonsense. Don't risk your life.' He said he didn't feel threatened. He said the guy didn't scare him. That's how it went.

"The other worker did his best to get out of the way of the machete. That's what I would have done too and it's my money."

He added: "The attempted robber just ran off across the street into the bushes.

"It was pretty amazing to see it. Either he was scared of the knife or he was scared of the demeanour of my worker."

The part-owner said his employee, who has worked at the station for about six months, called him after the incident and told him he was closing up early that day because of the attempted robbery.

The incident was reported to Police the next day.

A Police spokesman said last night: "It appears that at 6.50 p.m. on Wednesday, an unknown man entered the service station, brandishing a machete and demanding money.

"An employee who was inside the premises at the time grabbed a fishing knife, which is sold at the service station, and chased the offender out of the building. The employee, a 27-year-old Pembroke man, was not injured."

The spokesman added: "The Bermuda Police Service generally does not recommend that anyone take on an armed robber or intruder — in this case thankfully no one was injured."

The suspect, who made off with a pack of cigarettes, was brown-skinned, slim, about 5ft 11in tall, and wearing blue jeans, white sneakers and a blue jacket with two vertical lines across the chest.

• Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with any information to contact the Somerset Criminal Investigation Unit on 234-1010.