A shopkeeper who was blasted in the knee by a gunman has vowed the attack will not stop him returning to work.

Vijay Patel, 39, was shot in the leg by one of two men who robbed him as he put the day's takings and cigarettes from the Wine Dine grocery store in Otley Road into his car.

Mr Patel was only released from hospital last week and will have to remain off work for several weeks.

Speaking from his Bradford home, Mr Patel said he had not returned to the shop since the attack but he told the Telegraph & Argus he would not let the incident stop him serving the community he loves.

"I have worked in that shop since I left school and it has been in the family for 25 years," he said. "I miss the customers, who are like a little community, and I wish I was back at work."

Mr Patel cannot remember much of the attack which took place at 8.10pm on Friday, March 1.

"I just remember getting shot, lying on the floor and the ambulance coming and taking me to hospital," he said. "I was just clutching my leg and it was a burning sensation - like my skin was being burned. It was not like pain I had experienced before and I never want to again.

"Once I got to hospital I went straight into surgery and was given morphine. I can't remember much about the first few days afterwards."

He is now recovering at home with his family but is still taking daily painkillers. After the attack, he underwent three operations - two to remove pellets and one to graft skin from his other leg on to the wound.

"I only manage to get one or two hours sleep every night because I've got a rod pinned into my bone in four places to keep it straight. I've got to rest to give it time to heal naturally and the doctors don't know how long that will take. It could be six months, it could be a year because the surgeons said it was a bad injury."

He said that in all the years the family had run the shop, nothing on this scale had ever happened.

"When I do go back to work, I will look at extra security measures," he said. "I was born and bred in Bradford and crime is definitely getting worse. People will get hold of guns and use them if they are determined enough. It would be good to catch these people so they don't do it to anyone else."

Mr Patel said his recovery had been accelerated thanks to his customers, friends and family.

"Without their support, my recovery would have been much harder," he said. "The nurses and staff at the hospital were also lovely and really looked after me."

A West Yorkshire police spokesman said inquiries into the incident were continuing and officers were still appealing for witnesses to the raid which is not being linked to any other robberies.

"We are keeping an open mind at the moment but are not linking it to any other incidents at this stage," she added.

Anyone with information is asked to call Bradford Central CID on (01274) 376459.