Story By:  Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

A hapless shoplifter surrendered after he was battered senseless by the martial arts moves of a female off-licence cashier.

The thief had been caught red-handed trying to make off with a bottle of booze from the store in Tianjin city, eastern China.

But security CCTV shows that within seconds the female cashier had flipped and choked him into submission.

As he struggles to get free, she first drops him to the floor with a chokehold before putting a painful wrist lock on him.

Then as he squeals in pain, she performs a series of elbow and knees strikes before grappling him with another series of pins and chokes.

The thief eventually gave up when he was arrested after a passerby called police.

Local reports say, though, that the cashier refused to press charges because the boy is so young.

The footage was shared online and quickly went viral at the way the middle-aged woman had managed to restrain a much stronger young man.

One netizen said: “I think this lady boss may have learned ground fighting techniques such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, either that or she is the kind of woman who is born with supernatural powers!

“It’s incredible that she just is not knocked down by a strong young guy.”