AN ARMED robbery victim this week relived her terrifying ordeal at the hands of knife-wielding thugs during a £10,000 hold-up at a Basingstoke store.

Hazel Carver, of Cayman Close, Popley, told The Gazette how she feared for her life when a gang of five men pulled kitchen knives on staff in a raid at the Comet store in Winchester Road.

The hold-up happened as Mrs Carver and two colleagues were leaving the Winchester Road store after staying late on April 1.

Mrs Carver first saw the gang approach as manager Kate Lamb was locking up. They were wearing masks and Mrs Carver thought it was an April Fool's Day joke. However, when the men came closer she realised the sickening reality of the situation.

She said: "I thought it wasn't happening because it was April 1 and I thought it was something to do with that. What made me think it was real was when I saw one of them with a knife.

"The first thought I had when I realised what was happening was to run across to the garage and get help, but when I saw the knife I just froze."

Mrs Carver then felt the point of a seven-inch blade pressed into her side and, although she doesn't remember it, she screamed. A guest in a nearby hotel heard the cry and called the police - but Mrs Carver feared the situation was going to get worse.

Mrs Carver recalled: "I looked up to the hotel and the boy with the knife to me looked up and saw a curtain move. I thought 'Are they going to go now or will they do something?' I thought they might panic and use the knives. I was so worried I went blank."

Mrs Carver hoped the gang would make a break for it but instead they forced her, Kate Lamb and fellow employee William Pollock inside the store.

She said: "They made me and Billy lie down on the floor and told me to put my hands behind my back. I had a knife pointed in my back and the boy holding it kept saying 'Just don't move and we won't hurt you.' To me it seemed like an hour, but we were told it was just a few minutes. I was just trying to blank it out."

Mrs Carver was then dragged to the manager's office and told to stay put as the gang tried to get more cash from the raid. She thought about escaping but when the gang became increasingly angry she decided it was safer to do as she was told.

Three of the robbers - John Lawlor, 21, of Bermondsey, Danny Johnson, 22, of Peckham and 23-year-old Paul Thompson, of East Dulwich - were all caught close to the scene after the police arrived.

A fourth, James Stewart, 21, of Rotherhithe was picked up in London and all four were sentenced to seven years in jail last Friday.

Mrs Carver welcomed the sentences but said she was still coming to terms with robbery.

She said: "I didn't go straight back to work and I've had counselling from Comet, who have been really good. My daughter and husband were rea-lly worried about me and have seen a change.

"I'm always looking behind me. I started shaking on my first day back at work and I left early. My husband is always there waiting to pick me up."