JEWELLER Simon Marshall found himself under fire with stock from his own shop when masked men smashed their way inside and stole £12,000 of jewellery and paperweights.

The peace of Burford High Street was shattered just after 4.20am on Sunday when the gang battered open the front door of the Stone Gallery using a car.

They stormed inside and snatched jewellery and decorative paperweights from display cabinets.

But before they could escape, they were confronted by Mr Marshall, who lives above the shop with his wife Veral, 64, and was woken by the burglar alarm.

Mr Marshall, 66, who took over the family business from his mother Phyllis five years ago, said: “The alarm went off, so I came downstairs into the shop and there were four men masked up.

“I went forward towards one of them and he picked up a hammer and said: ‘I will do you’.

“Then he threw two expensive paperweights at me and at that stage I thought it was time to leave and went back upstairs.

“I stayed upstairs for a few minutes and by the time I came back down again, they had gone.”

Mrs Marshall was watching from an upstairs window and saw the raiders flee. She triggered a personal attack button which is linked to an alarm centre.

Mr Marshall added: “These men scooped paperweights into bags. One of the items of jewellery they stole was worth £2,500.

“We think they took about £12,000-worth, which is a hell of a lot.

“The glass paperweights they threw at me were created by an American glass artist called Paul Stankard and were worth £3,000 each.

“One seems to be okay, but the other one was slightly damaged.”

He said the gang was “very quick and very noisy”.

The couple spent yesterday clearing up and getting the door repaired, so the shop can reopen as soon as possible.

Mr Marshall added: “I haven’t had time to be frightened, because I have been on the go since the raid happened.

“We had a robbery about 15 years ago when the door was smashed, but they didn’t cause half as much mess that time.”

Mr Marshall worked in fine art before becoming a jeweller, and was a friend of the painter LS Lowry.

Police spokesman Chris Kearney said four men in a red Subaru estate car carried out the raid.

Anyone who may have seen the car in west Oxfordshire early on Sunday should call police on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.