Spray raid horror at post office
FOUR people were injured in a ‘terrifying’ robbery at an Accrington town centre post office.
Staff were sprayed in the face with an unknown substance at the Abbey Street branch.
The shocking incident unfolded after a man demanded money at around 5.30pm on Friday, May 10.
Lancashire Police said that three staff members were sprayed in the face, and a customer was also injured.
Part of Blackburn Road was closed while the incident was being handled.
Coun Stephen Button said: “It must have been terrifying. There’s been a lot of stuff in the media about acid attacks.”
FOUR people were injured in a ‘terrifying’ robbery at a town centre post office.
Staff were sprayed in the face with an ‘unknown substance’ at the branch on Abbey Street, Accrington.
The bizarre incident unfolded after a man demanded money at around 5.30pm on Friday, May 10.
Three staff were sprayed in the face, and a number of the public was also injured, in what police believe was an attempted robbery.
Lancashire Police, North West Ambulance Service, and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service all attended the scene, and part of Blackburn Road in the town centre was closed.
Hyndburn councillor Stephen Button said he was shocked to hear about the raid.
He said: “It must have been terrifying. You don’t expect it to happen in a town centre location at a prime time.
“It’s unnerving for the public and there’s been a lot of stuff in the media about acid attacks.
“It’s shocking that it was not just a standard holdup, it was done with some sort of liquid.
“I hope the perpetrators are caught and dealt with and I hope the people who run the post office are recovering.”
Fellow councillor Tim O’Kane also expressed his sympathy with the staff caught up in the raid.
He said: “It’s a disturbing set of events.
“I feel very sorry for the staff and hopefully they manage to get over it. Nobody should have to be subjected to that kind of thing on a normal working day.”
Paul Coppack posted on our Facebook page: “I feared it could’ve been much, much worse when the story first broke.”
Neil Paul Grimshaw said: “People getting more desperate now.
“Sign of the times. I hope the injured people are going to be ok.”
Lancashire Police are appealing for information.
A statement from Lancashire Constabulary on Saturday, May 11 read: “Police were called at around 5.30pm yesterday (Friday, May 10) to a report that a man had gone into the post office on Abbey Street in Accrington and sprayed a number of people with an unknown substance.
“He demanded staff open the safe before making off with a quantity of cash. The offender fled the scene on a pushbike.
“Three members of staff and one member of the public were injured.
“Police, fire and ambulance attended the scene and the injured parties were treated.
“Fortunately they were not seriously hurt.”
If you have any information about this incident, please call us on 101 quoting incident reference 1057 of May 10.
A 33-YEAR-OLD local man arrested on suspicion of robbery has been released under investigation.