A TERRIFIED pensioner has told how she pleaded with raiders as her asthmatic husband fought for his life during a vicious robbery in their village home.

A TERRIFIED pensioner has told how she pleaded with raiders as her asthmatic husband fought for his life during a vicious robbery in their village home.

Dennis and Lucy Davies were tied up and threatened with a hammer by two men during the raid at their Chevington home in the early hours of Tuesday morning .

Police believe they were targeted by robbers looking to break into the neighbouring post office, once run and still owned by Mrs Davies, and the couple have now closed the branch for the foreseeable future.

During a press conference yesterday , Mr Davies, who suffers from asthma and had to go to hospital after the incident, told how he feared for his life when the robbers smothered his face with pillows.

Mr Davies, 77, said: "It was terrifying, I thought I was going to die. I was fighting for my breath and my heart was racing.

"It was really wicked – you go to bed and you are sound asleep and then the next minute, you have a couple of pillows over your face.

"They had both got claw hammers and I was scared they were going to hit us on the top of our heads.

"I never want to experience anything like it again – it was absolutely terrifying."

Mrs Davies, 71, said: "At about 4am, I was woken up by shouting from my husband. At that point, I looked up from my bed and saw a masked man at the bottom of my bed saying give me the post office keys.

"With that, he pushed me into a room with my husband being covered with pillows. I told them to be careful as he suffered from asthma and he was getting in a distressed state."

Mr Davies suffered a cut lip and bloodshot eye and was taken to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds after his asthma attack while Lucy suffered bruising to her arm.

Mrs Davies said: "Our hands and feet were tied up while one man stood in the room with a claw hammer while another man went round the house trying to find the keys.

"He came back repeatedly asking for the post office keys but we don't have nothing to do with the post office anymore – I have been retired for 11 years. We just live in the bungalow next door.

"We were threatened all the time with the hammers but I think they just finally thought we didn't have the keys and left."

The couple's trauma was still not over as the thugs smashed the door handle with the hammer trapping them in their bedroom.

Mrs Davies explained: "We waited for a few minutes to make sure they had gone but we couldn't get out. We looked around the bedroom to see what we could find to get out, we had to use a chair to smash the door down."

Police believe the intruders entered the property in Chedburgh Road through a window before tying up the couple with what police have described as "household items" .

Once the robbers left, the couple then managed to untie themselves before phoning police from a nearby property as their phone line had been cut .

The intruders were forced to leave empty handed as Mrs Davies, who ran the post office for 26 years and still owns the building, no longer has anything to do with the running of the branch.

The incident bought back chilling memories for the former sub postmistress after a man held a knife to her when she ran the branch.

Police believe residents of the sleepy Suffolk village may hold vital information to the crime, which took place at about 4am on Tuesday morning .

Det Insp Karl Smith said: "It is sometimes the case that an offender will visit the scene of a crime prior to the offence.

"This may have happened in this instance and we are keen to hear from anyone who witnessed anyone acting suspiciously in the area."

Det Insp Smith also issued a warning to post offices throughout the county to remain vigilant.

He said: "Some have CCTV and security and we are keen that all post offices exploit their opportunities and tighten up their security."

One of the men was described as white, about 5ft 8ins tall, in his 30s, medium build, wearing a dark woollen hat, dark trousers and jacket.

The other was white, about 5ft 9 to 10ins tall, medium build, wearing a balaclava, a dark jacket and dark trousers.

Anyone with any information about the raid, which took place at about 4am, should contact Suffolk police on 01284 774100 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.