THOUSANDS of pounds have been stolen from an Abergavenny post office following a break-in earlier this week.

Police are appealing for information following a burglary at Grosmont Post Office in the early hours of Wednesday morning, in which a safe was stolen containing around £3,000 of post office money. A further £5,000 or so in stamps and cash was also stolen in the incident.

Richard Brierly, 60, lives on the premises and slept through the whole ordeal, only to find his post office had been the victim of a break-in the next morning.

He said: “I was unaware of everything. I wondered why the dog didn’t bark but I might have been in deep sleep – that wasn’t the case the night after.

“They had broken in through the kitchen window and smashed the glass. It had to be someone very thin to fit through there. The safe was very, very heavy and it would’ve needed a few people to lift it.

“Neighbours opposite me saw four people getting in to a white hatchback at around 2 o’clock in the morning carrying something, but they thought nothing of it.”

The safe has since been found on a disused barn near Cross Ash Primary School in Abergavenny, but only contained “a few coppers”.

It is not the first time Mr Brierly has been the victim of a burglary at the post office, having suffered facial injuries following a break-in more than 20 years ago.

He said: “We had a violent raid in 1990 when I was smacked in the face with a baseball bat. Although it wasn’t violent this time, I was hoping it would not happen again.”

A Gwent Police spokeswoman said: “Officers in Abergavenny are appealing for information following a burglary at the post office which occurred sometime between 12.30am and 7.30am on Wednesday, October 9.

“A safe was stolen containing a significant amount of cash.

“A small white vehicle was seen in the area at around 2.30am - officers are appealing for anyone who saw this vehicle or anyone who has information relating to the incident to call 101 quoting log 63 09/10/13.”