A teen robber asked a clerk not to "tell my mom" what he'd done before fleeing from the scene of his attempted hold-up in a Salt Lake City store.

Police said the teenager went into the convenience store early last Saturday morning and approached the counter with numerous items.

As the clerk put his supposed purchases through the till, the would-be thief tried to sneak behind him and hold a knife to his neck.

But the quick-thinking clerk spun around with his hands up and hit the teenager in the face, knocking him to the floor.

Just before he took off, the teen asked his victim not to call the police and added: "Don't tell my mom."

The clerk was saved, at least, from having to resort to invoking the power of the lord - as another shopkeeper across the pond was compelled to do last year.

Marian Chadwick sent an armed robber scarpering from her Texas store when she "got mad" and ordered him out "in the name of Jesus".