A TRAUMATIC armed robbery has led a postmistress to close a Suffolk village post office today.

Page 2 lead with pics By GEORGINA JAMES

Georgina.james@eveningstar.co.uk>

A TRAUMATIC armed robbery has led a postmistress to close a Suffolk village post office today.

Stuck in the window of the Stonham Parva Post Office Store, a bleak notice is the only evidence of the drama which unfolded last night when three black men burst into the store and raided the safe.

Police today confirmed they are not linking yesterday's robbery, which happened at about 4.45pm, with a similar raid on Pakenham post office on Friday evening but said they have a team of officers working on the case.

The Evening Star is offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the men whose faces were masked with scarves.

The sub-postmistress, who was in the store on her own at the time of the robbery, was left 'shocked' and 'tearful' by the ordeal and will today be offered counselling from both the post office and victim liaison officers from Suffolk police.

Officers will be returning to the area to carry out further investigations into the raid and make further inquiries.

Early today police said they were are unsure of how the three men made their escape but are assuming a getaway car was involved.

The three black men swathed in dark scarves burst into the shop and threatened the woman with what appeared to be a silver handgun.

One man then went behind the counter and demanded money from a safe.

The men escaped on foot with an undisclosed quantity of cash from the safe and till. No shots were fired and no one was injured.

The 30-year-old sub-postmistress, who did not want to be named, was being comforted by a close friend after the ordeal.

The robbers were between 5ft 5ins and 5ft 7ins tall and one was shorter than the other two.

The post office is on the busy A140 road near Stowmarket and was cordoned off by police.

Det Insp Chris Pryke said: "There does seem to be a tendency for post offices to be targeted in the approach to Christmas. We will be making contact with all the post offices across the county, providing relevant advice.

"We are also appealing for anyone who may have been in the area at the time, who saw anyone running away from the post office or getting into a car, to contact us."

Police are appealing for anyone travelling on the A140 between 4.45pm and 4.55pm to contact police immediately. They are particularly keen to hear from anybody who noticed anybody acting suspiciously in the area or saw a car driving erratically to contact Stowmarket CID on 01473 613500,