This is the moment a woman takes on two thugs twice her size as they try to steal her mobile phone outside a street cafe.

A security camera caught the incident as it unfolded outside an ice cream parlour in Praia Grande, south-eastern Brazil, on 18th December.

As the crooks pull up on a motorbike, the man riding pillion can be seen dismounting and snatching a mobile phone from the table.

One of the women jumps up and starts battering the rider with her chair.

Then, as he gets off the bike to snatch a second mobile phone, she keeps hitting him with the chair.

Suddenly, a man comes running out from inside the store and decks the biker with a flying kick.

It is only when one of the muggers pulls a gun that the defenders have to back off and let them escape.

Local media reported that the woman’s friend, who remained seated for part of the drama before running away, was pregnant.

Officials in Sao Paulo state have registered the case as robbery.

The perpetrators have not yet been identified, but the case remains under investigation.