NEWSAGENT Gordon Hackett was back behind his till yesterday, just hours after being robbed at gunpoint.

Mr Hackett, 75, escaped with a cut to his nose after two masked men walked into Hackett’s News in Garsington Road, Cowley, at 6.55am.

Police said one of the two men was holding a handgun as they demanded cash from the till.

When Mr Hackett refused to hand it over, he was pushed to the ground, suffering the cut to the bridge of his nose.

The robbers then grabbed an undisclosed amount of cash and 12 packets of cigarettes, worth about £100, and fled.

Police said they may have got into a green car after leaving the corner shop at the junction with Phipps Road.

“I’m okay,” said Mr Hackett, who was treated by paramedics following the raid and reopened the store with assistant Dawn Allsopp at about 12.45pm.

It was the second robbery Mr Hackett has faced in seven years, following a raid in 2006 by teenagers armed with a meat cleaver.

Mrs Allsopp, of Wilkins Road, Cowley, who has worked at the newsagents for the past three years, arrived about 15 minutes after the robbery.

She said: “Gordon won’t be beaten by this. As soon as the shop was open again, he went straight back to work.

“He was shaken up but he’s a British bulldog and he won’t let anyone bully him.

“He has run this shop for the past 20 years and he’s not going to give up. The shop serves the community and it’s so unfair that he has been robbed.

“Gordon won’t be driven out, even though it’s the second time this has happened.”

Following the robbery, the shop was cordoned off while scenes of crime officers carried out forensic checks.

Det Con Claire Argent, one of the officers investigating the raid, said: “The men’s faces were obscured and one was holding a pistol.

“Mr Hackett put up a bit of a fight and then he was pushed over.

“He wasn’t hit with the gun but his nose was injured – he’s lucky he was not more seriously hurt.”

Police described the first offender as of Asian appearance, about 6ft tall, of medium build and in his 30s.

The second man was of similar height and build and both were wearing balaclavas and dark clothing.

It’s the second time Mr Hackett has been attacked at the shop by robbers. In October 2006, a gang of teenagers threatened him with a meat cleaver and demanded the contents of the till.

When he told them there was no cash in it, they took cigarettes instead.

Father-of-two Niro Chandrasakaran, 38, of North Oxford, who runs the Shell garage nearby, said: “It’s a shock to hear there has been an incident.”

On March 17, two masked raiders threatened staff with a gun at the Betfred bookmakers in The Slade, Headington.

Two men were arrested following the Betfred robbery. A 22-year-old man has bailed until May 22, while a 24-year-old man has been bailed until June 4.

On April 23, a security guard was robbed in Cowley Road as he was about to deliver cash to the Cowley Road branch of NatWest.

Police said the two men stole a “significant” amount of money.

Thames Valley Police spokesman Rhianne Pope said: “The incident at the newsagents is not being linked to any others at this time.”

Police are refusing to say how much money was taken from the newsagents. Last night no arrests had been made.

Anyone with information should contact police on enquiry line 101 or Crimestoppers on an anonymous basis on 0800 555111.