A TERRIFYING attempted robbery marred the final day of business at Station Road sub-post office.

Plans for staff to share mince pies and drinks with loyal regular customers were ruined after a thief tried to kick his way through an interior wall at the office after lying in wait on the staircase.

As we revealed last week, the Pioneer-backed campaign to save the office from closure ended abruptly when the building housing it was sold and its new owner decided not to take over postal duties.

The robbery drama unfolded as counter clerks Yvonne Jones and Celia Gregory arrived to open up the office for the final time just before 9am on Wednesday.

Yvonne said: 'We came in and opened the safe, which sets off an alarm. The intruder must have been waiting for that because that's when he started kicking the wall through.

'All we could see was a leg and an arm coming through the wall. We immediately locked the safe and ran into the back room, where we locked ourselves in and called the police.'

The raider escaped through the rear alley-facing window through which it is believed he entered the building.

On the office's final day scores of customers were greeted with a hastily prepared hand-written notice pinned to the door, telling them that Station Road was now permanently closed a day early.

Celia, who had worked at the office for more than a decade, said: 'It was a terrible end to it all.'

The break-in has added to the pair's anger over Royal Mail's treatment of them and customers since the office's closure was first rumoured in August.

Yvonne added: 'We tried the best we could and I am just sorry that it had to end on this note.'

Ellesmere Port MP Andrew Miller has vowed to ensure that some kind of postal facility stays in the Westminster area.