A pub landlord says he thought it was a joke when he had a gun pointed in his face by two masked and armed raiders in his pub.
Mark Allen, 52, was forced to hand over the contents of his till in the incident at The Three Horseshoes in Whissendine, near Melton, last Wednesday night.
Former Royal Military Policeman Mr Allen said: "I was putting some glasses away and heard the door open and these two men appeared with their faces covered.
"One of them pointed a handgun at me and shouted 'give me the till'. I said 'you're having a laugh aren't you' because I expected them to pull their hoods off and say it was just a joke.
"I soon realised they weren't messing around so I got the money from the till and they tipped it into a holdall."
The men demanded money from the safe, but Mr Allen told them he had already banked the takings.
He added: "They left and the guy with the gun walked backwards towards the door still pointing the gun at me.
"As soon as they had gone I shot around the bar and put the bolts on - I didn't hear a car start up as they got away."
Mr Allen was unharmed and there were no drinkers inside the premises at the time.
His wife, Jan, 59, returned to the pub after work to find it surrounded by armed police, who were on the scene within five minutes.
He added: "My wife got the biggest shock when she came home and found armed police outside. As an ex police officer she knows they don't turn out for nothing.
"The police were fantastic, I can't commend them enough.
"My wife thinks I'm daft not to be worried by it, but I've served in a lot of places and had guns pointed at my head in Ireland and the Falklands."
He added: "Only one of them spoke and it was in perfect English. the whole thing only lasted for three or four minutes.
"There was no branding on their clothing and they wore black shoes, not trainers.There were no holes for their mouths in their balaclavas, just tiny slits for their eyes."
He added: "Nobody in their right mind would rob a village pub on a Wednesday night because they've never got any money.
"They're looking at doing 10 years for the robbery, but they only got away with £160.
"The police think it was a practice run for something they want to do elsewhere."
He added: "The week before at the Neighbourhood Watch meeting, the local beat officer had been telling us that the only crime in the village in the past 18 months had been a shed break in.
"There is no anti-social behaviour, the youngsters in the village are brilliant.It's come as a great shock to the whole village."
Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them about the incident. The suspects, who got away with £161 from the till, wore face coverings and both were about 5ft10ins tall. They were of medium build and both had distinctive bright blue eyes.
Detective Constable Conroy Crowe said: "We would urge anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area around 9.30pm on Wednesday to contact us.
Even if you didn't see anything but were in the area at that time we would like to speak to you."
Anyone with information is asked to contact DC Crowe on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
