A chef who tackled a gang of robbers as they fled a jewellers shop has said he would do the same again and is only sorry he did not manage to restrain any of the crooks.

Louis Martin, 26, who is the head chef at Seasons restaurant in The Broadway, Woodford Green, bravely stepped in when he saw five men fleeing Time Gold Jewellers at around noon yesterday.

He said: “I was out the back having a cigarette on my break when a lady came past and said there was a robbery happening next door.

“I went out to have a look and these five men came running out of the jewellers.

“One of them stumbled as he ran and I just jumped at him.”

Louis’ boss, Jack Bell, was pulling up in his car as the drama unfolded, and Louis shoved the robber through the open door and onto the floor of Jack’s car.

He said: “He was trying really hard to get up, thrashing around trying to hit me.

“I briefly thought ‘Has he got a knife? Has he got a gun?’ but then you just put that to the back of your head and try and do what’s right.

“Unfortunately he got free of my grip and ran off after the others.”

Undeterred, Louis, who lives in nearby Glen Crescent, chased the man around the corner.

He said: “I was angry with myself for letting him get away and wanted to catch him.

“When I got round the corner he was jumping in to a car with the rest of the gang by the library.”

The robbers sped off, but quick-thinking Louis managed to remember the number plate of the metallic coloured Vauxhall Corsa and passed it onto police.

He said: “They told me that they found the car abandoned later on, with a load of clothing in it.

“Hopefully they caught the men, but I don’t know.”

Jack, 25, who chairs the newly formed Woodford Traders Association, took the owner of the jewellery store a brandy.

He said: “He was very shaken up.

“All the local traders were coming in to see how he was because we stick together round here.

“Louis is a brave man and I’m proud to have someone like that on my staff.”

Louis said: “The police told us the only stuff  the robbers got away with was costume jewellery so they obviously picked the wrong display cabinet.

“I did think last night that maybe I shouldn’t have got so involved, but you have to really.

“I would do the same again, no worries. My only regret is that I didn’t manage to restrain the guy until the police arrived.”

Louis says the men were all in their late teens or early twenties. They wore hoods and scarves over their mouths.

The Guardian is awaiting an update from police.

Time Gold remains closed this afternoon.