Worker shot in Post Office raid

Jan 9 2009

A Post Office worker has been shot dead by masked gunmen during a robbery in a rural village.

Police are hunting three men wearing balaclavas seen fleeing the family-run business in Fairfield, near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. A second man is in hospital after being shot in the leg by the gang, who were armed with a handgun and a sledgehammer.

Police said the robbery took place at Fairfield Post Office and Stores, in Stourbridge Road. Officers discovered a silver VW Golf, used by the gang to escape, abandoned a short distance away in Bourneheath Road.

Teachers were forced to close a primary school opposite the scene of the shooting as police launched a huge manhunt.

Residents in the small village, which is close to the M5 and M42 motorways, said they were shocked at news of the robbery.

Builder David Green, 59, said the Post Office was run by a Welsh family who had moved to the area some years ago. Mr Green said the mother and father, believed to be in their 50s, and their son and daughter, in their 20s, were a "lovely family".

"Everybody knows everybody here. They are a lovely family, just lovely people really. We always have a little chat."

He said police had cordoned off the road just outside his home 100 metres from the shop and were making door-to-door inquiries.

"At 8am everything was normal. The first I heard of it was about 15 minutes later, with all the sirens and the police helicopter. I usually get my paper at the store but I left it a bit later this morning."

Richard Lynton, 27, bar manager at the nearby Swan Inn, said: "All I know is that it was an armed robbery gone wrong. I don't know if it was a Post Office worker or the robber who was shot. It's a family-run post office. It's a mother, father and their son. I didn't know them that well but they are a nice family."