A WOMAN was held at gunpoint and forced to hand over a substantial amount of money when armed robbers struck at a post office.Three men went into Wivenhoe Post Office in the High Street at 4.

By Annie Davidson

A WOMAN was held at gunpoint and forced to hand over a substantial amount of money when armed robbers struck at a post office.

Three men went into Wivenhoe Post Office in the High Street at 4.45pm yesterday, one of who was armed with a silver handgun.

Two female staff members, both in their fifties, were in the office at the time and one was held at gunpoint and forced to hand over a four-figure sum.

The robbers made off in the direction of Wivenhoe railway station.

Police immediately called in dog units and armed response vehicles to search for the robbers but no-one had been arrested last night.

Officers were alerted in Clacton and the British Transport Police also assisted in case the three men had caught a Clacton-bound train shortly after the robbery.

Neither of the women at the post office were injured but both were said to be "shocked" by their ordeal.

Police were last night keen to trace four men seen in a dark coloured Mondeo car on a dirt track close to Wivenhoe station shortly after the robbery.

A spokesman said officers were keen to eliminate the men from their enquiries.

Officers said they were "keeping an open mind" as to whether the robbery was linked to one in Kirby on Tuesday.

Two men struck at the Kirby Cross Post Office and Stores in Thorpe Road, wielding handguns.

They threatened two female members of staff and made off with a sum of cash.

It was the second time the post office had been targeted in the space of five weeks.

In December, three men armed with baseball bats pounced and forced a staff member to hand over cash.

In yesterday's robbery, the gunman is described as black, aged in his early twenties, stockily built, 5ft 10ins tall, wearing a black woolly hat, a black scarf over his face and a fleece jacket.

The second robber was white, with a thin, spotty face, 6ft 1ins tall, medium to thin build, with brown hair, aged in his early twenties, wearing a grey tracksuit top and carrying a white drawstring bag with red writing on it.

The third man was white, 5ft 6ins tall, aged in his early twenties, with a chubby face and rosy cheeks, clean shaven, wearing a black woolly hat and dark clothing.

Anyone with information should contact Colchester police on 01206 762212.