Detectives praised a heroic supervisor who was shot and seriously wounded as he chased hammer wielding robbers from a cash and carry in Croydon.

Colin Thomas, 24, was left in a critical condition after approaching the five robbers who entered the Costco cash and carry on Imperial Way armed with hammers at about 7.45pm.

The gang, described as young black men wearing dark clothing with their faces vitually covered, broke into some displays containing jewellery.

Mr Thomas raised the alarm and as he gave chase one robber remained standing at the doorway and he shot the victim with a shotgun as he chased the suspects.

All the men then ran away from the store in the direction of the playing fields next to Purley way.

Mr Thomas was taken to a south London hospital suffering from a gunshot wound. His condition today is still said to be critical and he is currently under police guard.

Flying squad detectives are appealing for any witnesses or information concerning the shooting.

Officers from the Specialist Crime Directorate are investigating and CCTV is being recovered from the scene.

Detective Superintendent, Bob Cummings said they are appealing for anyone who was in the store at the time to get in touch and for any witnesses in the area.

He said: “Mr Thomas is a very brave young man who has worked at Costco for about five months and has already achieved a promotion.

“Costco think very highly of him.

“His actions were courageous. We would never encourage people to react in this way but you never know how someone will react.

“Mr Thomas felt a sense of duty as supervisor of the store.”

Det Supt Cummings said he believed it was not the first time the gang had struck and was looking at other incidents to establish any links.

He said: “People rarely do things like this once.”

Stores were warned to be extra vigilant about robbers in the wake of the shooting, while Det Supt Cummings said his team were reviewing CCTV footage from the night in a bid to discover any new leads.

He said: “Purley Way is a major road in south London and at that time of the evening would still have been very busy, especially in that area where there are several large retail premises.

"Were you in the area of Purley Way, between 7pm and 8pm on Thursday, September 17? Did you see or hear anything suspicious?"

So far there have been no arrests.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the Flying Squad on 020 7232 6530 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to remain anonymous.

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