A caretaker was hit over the hit with a hammer as he protected two young girls from a group of burglars.

Mick Wickes, 58, of Borehamwood, is the resident caretaker at Allum Hall and Manor House and on Thursday March 10 he was hit over the head with a hammer.

At around 12.30am one of the cleaners came to his flat and told him that five men had broken into the hall and were stealing the safe.

Mr Wickes ran downstairs and saw two men carrying a safe out of the office.

He said: “It was quite shocking and everything happened so quickly.

“My main concern was to protect the girls and the adrenaline just kicked in.

“I am a small bloke but there were five guys and two young girls who I had to protect. I didn’t worry about my own safety.

“I got to the bottom of the stairs and there were two people to my left and three to my right.

“I hit one of the men and when I turned around another one of them smacked me across my head with a hammer.

“I didn’t see him at first until he had already hit me across the head. I couldn’t do anything about it.

“I ran back upstairs to get a towel to put across my head to stop the bleeding.”

According to Mr Wickes blood was pouring out of his head and by the time he got back downstairs the men were already out of the building.

He said: “This is the first time this has happened to me and I have been working here for about eight and a half years.

“They knew exactly what they were doing and knew where the safe was.”

Mr Wickes believes that one of the men broke in through the window and opened the front door and let the others in.

This was the first time Mr Wickes had been assaulted but he believes it has not affected him in any way.

Mr Wickes had three stitches in his head to hold the wound together. According to Mr Wickes it is the size of a £2 coin.

Mr Wickes said he could have been injured a lot more if he wasn’t hit across the head with the Hall’s own hammer.

He said: “If the bloke didn’t hit me with the hammer I would have fought them all and I could have been hurt a lot more.

“I have a German Shepherd in my flat but I didn’t want to risk her getting injured. I would have felt guilty if anything had happened to her.

“All I wanted to do was to protect the girls. If it happens again I will do exactly the same as I did.”

Despite the thieves stealing the safe, there was little money inside and only important documents that only has significance to the workers at Allum Hall.

Jean Gilbert, centre manager at Allum Hall, said: “It was only a small safe. There wasn’t a lot of money in it.

“We used the safe to keep all of our bookings and I cannot understand why anybody would want it.

“There is never much money here. We put it straight into the bank.”

Mr Wickes was taken to Barnet General Hospital but was discharged around 6.30am on Friday March 11.

The burglars loaded the safe into a black people carrier in Deacons Hill Road, Borehamwood. When the police arrived two of the men drove away and the rest of the group ran towards the train station.

People are appealing for anyone with information to contact them on 101.