OWNERS of a village shop were today looking at extra security measures after burglars wiped out their cigarette supplies for the second time in a month.

OWNERS of a village shop were today looking at extra security measures after burglars wiped out their cigarette supplies for the second time in a month.

Two men broke into the Trimley St Martin Post Office and Stores in the early hours of this morning and stole virtually all the shop's cigarettes.

The raid comes just two days after raiders broke into the post office in Hawthorn Drive, Ipswich attacking the post master and hospitalising him.

Police were today analysing CCTV footage from cameras inside the shop for clues to the raiders, and appealed for witnesses who may have seen them in the village or making their getaway to come forward.

The break-in happened at about 3.30am when the men forced an entry to the unoccupied premises in High Road. They grabbed cartons of cigarettes and then made off in a large white car.

Shop owner Jenny Stennett said: "It is getting ridiculous – this is the second time in less than a month that our cigarette supply has been wiped out.

"We are looking now at getting electronic shutters to put across the whole of the front of the shop because we cannot carry on like this.

"Cigarettes cost a fortune to buy and we make so little on them, and then we have the cost of the damage to repair and our insurance will go up.

"I didn't even claim on the insurance for the last break in and thought I would just weather the storm, but I will have to this time because I cannot keep paying out like this."

The post office was also the target for a violent raid in September 1999 when two men walked into the shop wearing balaclavas and armed with sawn off shot guns.

They grabbed a teenage girl sitting on a bench outside and held her hostage but fled empty handed when a member of staff sounded the alarm.

Armed robbers Roy and Richard Loveridge were later given life sentences for their crime.

A police spokeswoman said the men in today's raid had been spotted leaving the premises and driving off by a member of the public.

Officers were looking at the CCTV film but it was too early to say whether the raid was linked to the previous burglary or any other similar incidents in the area.

She appealed for anyone who saw the men or the large white car in the village at the time of the incident or earlier, or anyone who has been offered cigarettes for sale, to contact Felixstowe CID on 01473 613500.