Putnoe post office targeted in early morning ram raid

Pinners News Agents and Post Office, in Library Walk, was targeted just before 2am this morning (Wednesday February 28), causing almost the entire front of the shop to be destroyed.

Post Master Russell Mizon was woken in the early hours by the alarm company.

He told the T&C: “An old style Range Rover reversed through the roller shutters into the shop, and then they stole the cash machine out of the wall.

“They abandoned the Range Rover and made off in another car. It all happened very quickly, they were in an out within a minute. It certainly gives off the impression that they knew exactly what they were doing, they hit the shutters in precisely the right place.

A ‘substantial amount’ of cash was stolen from the machine, with Russell estimating that it would run into ‘tens of thousands of pounds’.

Police remained at the scene of the ram raid all morning, with plans in place for part of the store to reopen later on in the afternoon.

But Russell believes it could be a while before Pinners is back to how it was.

He said: “The stockroom, the sweets, the stationary - it all got destroyed. It’s very extensive damage, they’ve taken out the whole of the front shop.

“The Post Office is going to be out for a couple of days, while we’re planning to open half the shop later this afternoon, and that will be how it stays for a week or so. It’s difficult to say, we’ve never really encountered anything like this.”

A police spokesman said investigations were ‘ongoing’. Call 101 quoting reference number 17 of 28 February if you have any information.