A TEENAGER robbed at knifepoint has spoken of her terrifying experience.

The woman, 18, who has asked to remain anonymous, was approached by a man wearing a balaclava in Elmstead Road, Colchester, on Saturday at 2am.

The first-year Essex University student had walked to Tesco to get cash and do shopping.

A man dressed in black came out of a cut-through by a block of flats and started to walk in front of her.

She said: “I had a gut feeling something wasn’t right.

“I slowed down a bit to keep myself in the street lights.

“He started to look around at me and that is when I noticed he had his face covered.”

She crossed the road but he followed her, walked in front of her and pulled a knife from his sleeve.

The woman, who lives on the university’s campus, said: “I didn’t look up at what he looked like. He asked for my bag and I just gave it to him.

My first instinct was that this was it and my life was over. I shouted please don’t hurtme.”

The man ran off towards Tesco. The victim continued: “I have only lived here for about a month.

“I was just starting to feel comfortable here, but now it is going to change the way I feel about things.

“I’m from a small village and this is unheard of.”

She hopes her experience will act as a warning to other students walking alone late at night.

She said: “I would never walk on my own again.

“You never expect it to happen to you. You hear about it happening to other people, but you don’t know what it is like until it happens to you first hand.

“I used to watch Crimewatch and that is scary, but it is not a touch on what it is actually like when it happens to you.”

The offender got away with her Ted Baker handbag and purse, which had money and bank cards in it. He also took her university notebook.

The woman had her phone in her hand, but he did not take it.

She added: “All of that is just material stuff that can be replaced, but this won’t go away for a while.”

Anyone with information about the incident can call Colchester police on 101.