THIEVES made off with cash and cigarettes from a building in Broadway after another ram-raid in the town.

The incident happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning at around 4.30am, when a Ford Escort was reversed into the front door of Broadway post office in High Street. The door was damaged extensively and panes of glass in the window were also shattered.

Post office owner Graeme Hayward-Wright, who does not live on site, was woken at around 4.45am by a phone call from a neighbour in a flat next door to the shop.

He said: "It is mainly the door that has been damaged and part of the window. The police were here in the early hours to seal off the area and we have had to close the shop until around lunchtime, which is a real inconvenience to many people wanting their morning paper.

"This is the first time we have been targeted by raiders.

Fortunately, the people next door were able to get a look at the car and one of the lads who took part in the raid, so hopefully we might find out who did this."

Four teenagers are believed to be involved in the raid and the driver was described as having a thin, foxy face with a small nose. He was also wearing a balaclava, although it was not covering his face.

The car, a red Ford Escort Popular saloon, headed off in the direction of Cheltenham Road and its registration is thought to be either E545 EBV or H545 EBV.

South Worcestershire Police would like to hear from any members of the community who were in the area at the time who saw anything suspicious or can identify the vehicle and give information about its location.

News of the latest ram raid - the fourth in the village in a little over 12 months - was greeted with dismay by Chris Brooks, chairman of the Broadway Visitor Management Group. "This is hugely, hugely disappointing," he said. "It is a real shame."

His views were echoed by resident and former secretary of the Broadway Traders' Association, Dottie Friedli, who said: "Although we had been targeted before there had been a lull in the number of incidents and we thought all of this was over so it is a real shock for it to happen again. I can't understand why they would target the post office though, there wouldn't have been too much money in there at that time."