THIEVES escaped with £300 worth of cash and stamps when they raided the Post Office in Coopers supermarket in Westbury.

Intruders entered the building between 4.15pm on Sunday and 4.55am on Monday.

They got in by climbing on to the roof where they broke through the roof.

The thieves then dropped down into the loft area above the ceiling and knocked a hole through the ceiling, either by accident or to allow them to gauge their exact location.

They made their way, across the beams, to the post office section of the supermarket, where they removed ceiling tiles and dropped down next to the safe.

They cut holes in the front of a secure steel cabinet and the top of a safe.

They triggered the fire alarm and fled, leaving behind much of the cash they had removed from the safe.

The scene was discovered by staff arriving for early shifts in the supermarket at about 5am. They immediately alerted Post Office manager Robert Lee.

Jean Guy, assistant Post Office manager, said: "Monday mornings are bad enough as it is, without something like this happening."

Despite the damage and mess caused by the raiders, the staff managed to get the post office open again by 4.30pm on Monday.

Robert Lee said: "We put all our energies into getting the place sorted out."

Mr Lee is not yet able to estimate the cost of repairs to the building or of replacing damaged property.

For Mr Lee and Mrs Guy the incident brought back memories of June 30 1998, when armed robbers entered the office in broad daylight and made off with over £1,000 after threatening staff.

Mrs Guy, who has worked at the store for more than 20 years, was the heroine of the hour during that robbery, calmly pressing the alarm button and scaring off the intruders, who were carrying shotguns. The robbery remains unsolved.

Forensic officers attended the scene of the latest robbery. Dc Tim Carnohan, the officer in charge of the investigation said: "We have a number of forensic leads which we are following at the moment."