Post office raid terror

Postmistress Mandy Gorey.

THE terrified sub-postmistress who faced two armed robbers, one with a gun the other with an axe, said she felt like a hostage.

Talking for the first time since her ordeal, Mandy Gorey, pictured, postmistress at Greenfield for 13 years, was confronted by two raiders on Tuesday afternoon at her tiny premises on Chew Valley Road.

In an exclusive interview with the Chronicle, she said: “I would hate for any of the raiders family to have to go through what myself and colleagues have been through.

“Their families will be ashamed of them for doing this terrible act,” she said.

The raid, which stunned the local community, happened at 4.10 pm when the robbers arrived at the post office on motorcycle.

The village was busy with parents collecting children after school and the prelude to the early evening rush hour.

Mandy said: “It was quiet in the office at the time, then two men barged through the door demanding cash. One was holding a hand gun and one an axe.

“One held out the gun at arm-point at my colleague and I. The other man, with the axe, was blocking the door to prevent entry. In effect we felt like hostages.

“The ordeal was terrifying —- it lasted about three minutes but, in truth, it it felt like ten minutes. It was if it was happening in slow motion.”

And she added: “They left because we had a guardian angel.

She tried coming into the post office but couldn’t open the door.

“She spotted the bike, saw them through the window and saw them with the axe.

“She phoned the police and the man with the axe spotted her — and that stopped it.

“One man shouted to the other man: ‘We’ve been seen — let’s go’.”

Mandy added:”At that point, they both ran from the building. But I would like to thank the police for their speedy attendance.”

Police say no one was hurt during the robbery, and that the two men made off along Shaw Hall Bank Road (the B6175) on a red and black Ninja Kawasaki motorbike.

The two men were both wearing black clothing and black motorbike helmets with the visors down.
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