A 71-year-old man foiled an attempted armed robbery in Banbury this afternoon.

The man was waiting in his car for his wife to finish her shopping in Tesco, Lockheed Close, when he was approached by two men.

One of them placed the blade of a knife through the half open driver's window and threatened the man to hand over his mobile phone which was visible inside the car.

Police said the man reached for his phone, but at the same time shoved the door open with his shoulder making the offenders run away.

The attack happened at about 12.10pm today.

The men are both Asian, between 5ft 8in and 5ft 10in tall and slim. They were wearing grey hooded tops and blue tracksuit bottoms The offender holding the knife had his hood up, while the other, who had a harelip', wore his down and had scruffy black hair.

PC Keith Devonish, based at Banbury police station, said: "This was obviously a distressing incident for the man but thankfully he remained calm and the offenders got away empty-handed. I appeal to anyone who was at Tesco around lunchtime and saw two men matching the descriptions to contact police immediately."

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact PC Devonish via Thames Valley Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505.

If you do not want to speak to police and do not want to leave your name contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.