This footage shows a thief failing to get his hands on any dough as the pizza chef he was trying to rob sends him flying after whacking him over the head with a massive rolling pin before snatching his gun and forcing him to flee.

The incident took place in the coastal city of Fortaleza in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Ceara on 30th September when the hapless thief decided to stick up a pizza joint.

Footage caught on a security camera on the premises shows the thief, wearing a black cap and a blue T-shirt, threatening a member of staff, who according to local media outlet O Povo was the chef, shoving the barrel of his handgun into his victim’s face as the latter appears to do his best to comply with his demands.

But at one point, the thief appears to be trying to take his victim’s watch off his wrist and he drops it, with the unnamed pizza chef grabbing a very large rolling pin and bringing it down with all his strength on the back of the thief’s head.

The thief, visibly dazed, while not quite knocked out, stumbles backwards before falling onto the ground and landing hard on his behind.

The pizza chef seizes the moment and launches a heroic attack on the criminal, bombarding him with a flurry of punches and kicks as other people, apparently also employees at the pizza joint, come to his aid.

After a few seconds of turmoil, the would-be thief is not only shirtless, he has also had his gun taken away from him and has no choice but to flee as the staff take back control of the situation.

At one point, the pizza chef appears to be trying to discharge the firearm towards the crook but it appears that the gun did not have any bullets in it. Either that or the cook was unable to take the safety off.

The footage ends with the hapless thief fleeing the scene.

The incident reportedly began when the thief and an accomplice held up customers at gunpoint in the front room and made them hand over their mobile phones and wallets, according to local media outlet Metropoles.

The former then proceeded to the kitchen, which is where he came face-to-face with the heroic pizza chef.

As he was in the kitchen, his accomplice remained in the dining area, keeping watch over the customers before making them move further inside, apparently to stop any of them making a quick escape.

However, he panicked and discharged his weapon when he heard the melee coming from the kitchen. He then fled the scene, and it was not reported if he injured anyone.

Police are believed to be investigating the incident, but at the time of writing, they had yet to make any arrests. The name of the pizza parlour remains unclear.