Second hit on Cotswold post office (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Second hit on Cotswold post office

RAMRAIDERS smashed up a Cotswold post office this week - just six weeks after an armed gunman raided the same store with a double-barrelled shotgun.

Cigarettes worth £1,000 were stolen from Northleach Post Office during the early hours of Friday morning.

Thieves drove a wooden fence tied to the back of a car into the front door at 3.20am waking up postmaster David Cotton and his wife Ruth, who reside above the market place shop.

It is the latest in a long line of robberies in the Cotswolds - Longborough Post Office and Bourton Newsagents have both been targeted in recent months.

Mr Cotton believes the concerning trend is down to CCTV in towns driving thieves into more rural areas.

He said: "If it continues at this rate then businesses like ours are going to go because it's an intolerable situation.

"It's a very worrying trend and something we have not experienced in the time we have been here."

He saw the getaway car parked outside the store through his window, but it drove off before he had time to contact the police.

He described the vehicle as black, but the number plate was covered.

Early estimates suggest the robbers caused around £1,000 worth of damage to the front door of the store and the shelves for the cigarettes.

Ruth said: "I didn't hear anything except a bump and David was fast asleep. Then all the alarms went off and I quickly woke him up.

"They did make a hell of a mess - they smashed the front door completely, and we are a listed building so we have to have one made to match it."

The second robbery in as many months has left the couple fearful the store might be hit for a third time.

On February 20 a masked gunman threatened staff and customers before stealing a large sum of money.

Mr Cotton was left in "total shock" after that robbery and he is calling for the police to catch the perpetrators of both crimes before it happens again.

He said: "It needs to be sorted and come to an end."

Gloucestershire police are linking the raids in Bourton-on-the-Water on March 31 and Broadway last Tuesday with this incident, but no arrests have yet been made.