This is the heroic moment a shopper tripped over an armed robber trying to escape from the scene of the crime in Thailand.

The man was sitting down when he noticed the female who had just raided a gold shop before trying to feel from the scene in Nonthaburi on September 12.

He stuck out a leg and sent the thief flying, landing on the ground with a crash before security guards piled onto her.

Officers arrived and arrested the suspect on suspicion of armed robbery before she was remanded in custody.

Police praised the shopper for catching the robber, who they said would have escaped if not for his quick-thinking actions.

Lieutenant Colonel Nattapon MuanKasem said: ‘The robber was a 17-year-old woman who used a kitchen knife as a weapon to intimidate the gold shop staff. She returned all the stolen items after being arrested.

‘The civilian who helped to catch the robber is brave. We are thankful to him.’

Video shows the robber wearing a black shirt, wearing a white mask and holding a large paper bag. She allegedly waked over to the counter while holding the knife and gave them a note, which read: ‘Put money and gold in a bag. Don’t shout. Your life is yours. There’s no need to kill’.

Poice said that the shop assistant put gold ornaments and jewellery worth 400,000 baht (8,795 GBP) in a bag which was then handed to the robber.

The heroic citizen Sompong Somnak, 59 said he was in the food court when he saw the robber running. He then calmly tripped her over to foil the escape.

He said: ‘A couple that came out from the gold shop thought the store was being robbed. So I went and sat somewhere near the scene and stuck out my leg right when I saw the girl holding a knife running.

‘I was aiming at the chair to use it as a weapon of defence if the knife did not fall out but luckily the knife was knocked out from her hand. I was afraid she might trip and fall over it.’

The Central Juvenile and Family Court released the 17-year-old girl on bail after her school headmaster paid a 15,000 baht bond.

She is said to have blamed money problems and financial pressure which lead her to do the robbery.

Robbery is punishable by jail sentences of between five and 10 years but is halved for anyone aged 15 to 18 and can be suspended if it is under three years.