Workers at a German petrol station fought off an escaped prisoner who was trying to rob them by bombarding him with beer bottles, police said.

The masked man appeared at the petrol station in Muensterland, Western Germany late Thursday, demanding money and threatening the cashier with a knife.

Police said the station’s cashier started swearing at the assailant.

Authorities said she then threw cans of beer at him.

When the petrol station’s owner heard the commotion, he came out of the store room and joined in, throwing a beer crate at the would-be robber.

The owner also managed to pull down the man’s mask before the man pulled it back on, threatened him with his knife and fled.

Police later arrested a 21-year-old man, who had recently escaped from prison, as well as a 20-year-old accomplice, in connection with the attempted robbery.

Both were drunk.

Nobody was injured in the incident.