A HAVE-A-GO-HERO commended for his courage has vowed: "I'd do the same again."

Brave postmaster Paul Noble was scarred for life after battling with armed raiders.

Fifty-year-old Mr Noble was slashed on the face with a knife and hit over the head with a baseball bat during the violent raid at the Londis Shop and Post Office on Dryclough Road, Crosland Moor, on May 14.

One of the robbers, 21-year-old Dale Hood, of Hall Cross Road, Lowerhouses, was convicted of robbery at Bradford Crown Court on Wednesday and jailed for seven years.

The judge commended Mr Noble for his bravery and awarded him £500 from public funds.

Mr Noble revealed today that the knife wound had left him with a permanent four-inch scar just above his jawline.

The injury also severed nerves which has left him with numbness to his left ear.

But he said he would do the same again if anyone tried to rob his shop.

"I would react the same way," he said. "If I had stood by and done nothing I could not have lived with myself.

"I just had to have a go, but unfortunately was injured. That's the way it is these days. We seem to be living in a totally lawless society and something drastic needs to be done."

He added: "If the robber served seven years it would be a fair sentence, but he'll be out in just over three."

Mr Noble vividly remembers the desperate battle with the robbers.

He came out of a back room to find one of the four masked raiders with his wife, Hazel, behind the counter.

Mr Noble immediately went towards him, but the robber came out from behind the counter brandishing a knife.

Mr Noble managed to overpower him and wrestled him to the floor, but was hit over the head with a club by another raider.

The robber got up and began to escape with one of his accomplices.

Mr Noble managed to grab one of them and pulled him to the floor, but was once more clubbed over the head.

This time he was left dazed and bleeding heavily. He came round only after the thieves had fled.

But in the struggle he had managed to pull the balaclava off one of the robbers which gave the police vital forensic evidence.

Mr Noble was anxious to praise the police - particularly Det Sgt Andy Parr and the robbery team at Huddersfield CID.

He said: "They did a brilliant job. They were dedicated and professional from the day the robbery happened right up to the court date, keeping us informed as to what was going on. They were absolutely magnificent."

Mr and Mrs Noble have run the shop for four years and have two daughters, Anna, 21, and Claire, 19.