Post office axe raiders steal cash

A security van driver was threatened with an axe during a daylight robbery outside a Dudley post office.

Two men pounced on the driver as he delivered cash to Russells Hall Road Post Office and Convenience Store.

The robbers were wearing white crash helmets. One of the raiders grabbed a cash box off the victim and they both escaped on a scrambler bike in the direction of Milking Bank park.

The robbery happened in full view of shocked residents as they queued at a nearby bus stop at around 9.10am yesterday.

Staff at the shop said the driver had already delivered one box of cash to the shop and had returned to the van to collect a second one when he was threatened by the men. It is not known how much cash was stolen in the raid but sub-postmaster Joe Jawandha said he believed it was a "substantial" amount.

Two members of staff were in the post office and convenience store at the time of the robbery and were left shaken by what had happened, Mr Jawandha said.

The business was closed for the rest of the day but was open as normal this morning. "There was a lot of people around because many were walking back from taking their children to the school. One of our staff was quite shocked and was shaken by what had happened. I believe the security guard had a substantial amount of cash on him," said Mr Jawandha.

West Midlands Police spokeswoman Deb Edmonds said the scrambler bike was seen travelling through the Milking Bank estate and was likely to have been seen by many people.

Anyone with information are asked to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers an-onymously on 0800 555 111.