A brave shop worker chased down three men he believed stole mobile phones during a distraction theft where he works.

Levi Wright, assistant manager of Cash In Hand, Braintree, had clocked in for his shift as usual last Tuesday when three men walked in together.

One man headed for the till to talk to Mr Wright and the others went to a cabinet at the far end of the shop.

While Mr Wright was distracted he believes the two men worked the cabinet open and stole two iPhone 7phones in gold and rose gold worth around £400 each and a Samsung S6 in platinum gold worth around £200.

Police are investigating the incident.

Mr Wright said: “When I realised the phone was missing I shouted ‘oi’ and they ran off.

“I phoned my colleague and he came running back, I had watched what direction then went in and legged it after them.”

Mr Wright said they ran off in the direction of Sainsbury’s and round towards Barclays on Bank Street.

He caught up with the man he believes was the distractor, but he did not have either of the stolen items.

He added: “My colleague came and asked him to empty his pockets, but he didn’t have anything.

“I said if he hadn’t done anything then he should be more than happy to come back and talk to the police.”

Mr Wright added: “The cabinets are locked and I didn’t hear anything so we are not sure how he got in.

“Shortly after I thought something was a bit suspicious, but obviously I didn’t know what was going on at the time.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We are investigating following a theft from a shop in Braintree.

“Three men went into Cash in Hand in New Street at around 2.10pm on Tuesday, November 28 and stole three mobile phones before making off.”

Contact police 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.