A BETTING shop manager targeted by armed robbers three times in four years has backed a Merseyside campaign to protect businesses.
Between October last year and March this year, 300 robberies took place on Merseyside businesses, mainly bookmakers, off licences and convenience stores
Now local and national chains have joined forces with Crimestoppers and Liverpool's Chamber of Commerce to launch an initiative to catch offenders.
Among others, Bargain Booze, Ladbrokes, Asda and Threshers are offering rewards to people who offer information that leads to an arrest.
Last night Joey King told how he has been held up by robbers with a gun, a machete and a knife.
The first robbery took place four years ago, while Mr King was managing Ladbrokes on Breck Road in Anfield.
He said: "A man came in the shop and grabbed a female staff member, holding a knife to her throat. I had to let him round the counter to give him the money.
"A year later, it happened again. This time a man wearing a bright yellow jacket came in. I thought he was just picking a bet up on his way back from work, but he took a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at us.
"After that, I told Ladbrokes I had to move. I went to a shop in St Helens, where there hadn't been a robbery for years. But two weeks after I got there, a man came in with a machete."
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