A CAFE worker has spoken of his shock at the terrorist siege in Sydney.

Elliott Vale had given up working at the the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in central Sydney, Australia, a few weeks ago to prepare for a surprise flight back to Essex.

The 23-year-old had not told his family or friends of his plans so he could give them a Christmas surprise.

But his secret had a terrifying impact on his loved ones as they frantically tried to get in touch with him when news of the armed siege broke.

While friends were flooding his Facebook page with messages of concern, Elliott was oblivious to what was going on as he was on his long flight back.

He said: “I’m shocked by what’s happened. It’s just crazy.

“I spoke to my mum first just as I got off the runway to confirm I was fine. They all thought I was still in Australia.

“My family are so relieved.

“I had 180 notifications on Facebook and texts and calls. It was incredible.

“Obviously at the time I didn’t have a clue what was going on.”

Central Sydney was put on lockdown after gunman Man Haron Monis entered the cafe in the heart of Sydney’s business district and took a number of hostages.

The siege ended in the early hours of Tuesday as armed commandos stormed the cafe and killed the gunman in a dramatic two-minute shoot out.

The gunman killed cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34, after he had bravely tried to wrestle the gun out of the terrorist’s hands.

Sydney lawyer and mum-ofthree Katrina Dawson, 38, also died from her injuries in hospital.

Elliott, of Belvedere Place, Maldon, had been working at the cafe just over two weeks before the seige.

Had he not been offered a new role at the Oakhouse in Maldon High Street, he would have still been working there.

Elliott, who had been away travelling the world since January, said: “It’s pretty scary really.

“I would 100 per cent have been working at Lindt if I had still been in Sydney.

“I worked with Tori Johnson, the manager, most days and got on really well with him.

“It’s so sad to hear what happened.”