A FOOLHARDY crook tried to smash his way into a jewellers but nearly got trapped behind the shutters.

The wannabe robber took a hammer to the window in the entrance of Andrews jewellers, in Southchurch Road, Southend.

But the quick-thinking owner put the shutter on the main door down leaving the hapless crook trying to duck under it to escape.

Andy Levy, 54, said: “I pressed my alarm and the grille came down. He destroyed my window but he didn’t get anything.

“Only a few seconds more and he would have been stuck.” Anyone with any information is asked to contact Det Con Boyd at Southend police station on 101 or give information anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.