Three men who held a knifewielding man in a restaurant until the police arrived are to be nominated for a bravery award.

Jay Smith, Simon Godden and Ben Vineer dashed to the rescue when the man began threatening staff and customers inside the Worthing restaurant.

Now the trio are to be put up for an award by police for the courage they showed.

The stand-off was sparked when a man marched into The Levant in Goring on Thursday and grabbed an 18-inch knife from the kitchen.

Terrified staff and customers fled from the Lebanese restaurant in Strand Parade and the alarm was raised by a chef who ran next door to OJ Barbers.

Three men who were chatting in the hairdresser's - Mr Smith, 30, Mr Godden, 27, and 18-year-old Mr Vineer - ran a few yards down the road and watched through the restaurant's window as the man slashed the air with the blade.

The trio decided to keep him locked in by holding the door firmly closed until police officers arrived, using advertising boards to help keep the door shut.

But the knifeman continued to struggle, throwing tables and chairs at the reinforced window, slashing tables and hurling the till across the room as he tried to escape.

Twelve minutes later a neighbourhood police constable arrived and started to negotiate with the man through the window.

Believing the man had calmed down, the constable went into the restaurant to try to disarm him but was cut across the arm when the carving knife was thrown at him.

He was backed up by another two officers and an emergency call was put out for all units to attend.

The constable was treated in hospital for his injuries.

Chief Inspector Sharon Rowe, Adur district police commander, said: "This was a very upsetting and frightening event for the people in The Levant and the public in the street.

"I would expect police officers to deal with this situation because this is what they are trained for, although cases like this are rare in Worthing.

"The actions of the three should be commended and I hope this will happen in due course."

The men could be in line to receive a commendation from the Chief Constable.

Mr Vineer, who works in the barber's shop, said: "I am pleased about the nomination but we couldn't leave a man with an 18-inch knife for 20 minutes until the police got there."

No charges had been brought against the man last night.

He was taken to hospital after complaining about head pains.

The restaurant suffered £3,000 of damage but was open for business hours after the incident.