Counter attack

THE decision to close her village post office and stores wasn't one Helen Greening took lightly. The 35-year-old mum of two, who took over Nawton Post Office and stores in 2000, had high hopes for the business. She became involved with the vital villages initiative, and was planning to expand.

Then, last December, her tiny post office was burgled. The thieves came during the night, broke into the safe and stole an undisclosed amount of cash.

"Fortunately, I didn't hear anything and didn't know anything about it until the morning," Helen says.

But the burglary set her thinking about what might have happened if the burglars had not been able to get what they wanted and had come upstairs after the family.

The violent raid on Helmsley Post Office last week, when a gang of men used a chainsaw to break in and then beat up postmaster Geoff Simpson, finally decided her. It was time to give up both post office and shop.

"I just felt it was no longer safe," she says. "It is a tragedy. I am involved with the vital villages initiative in our village where we are trying to retain rural services and I feel absolutely dreadful now that I will be instrumental in closing the main one in the village."

Nawton isn't the only small rural community to suddenly find itself without a post office.

In the last week, the sub-postmasters at both Hovingham and Brandsby have also announced they are quitting, also in the wake of the Helmsley raid.

Hovingham sub-postmaster David Sell endured a terrifying raid on his post office in 2000, when he was robbed by raiders armed with knives. Then, at lunchtime on Tuesday last week, intruders tried to break in again - smashing a bathroom window at his home before running away when the alarm went off.

That was just hours before the attack at Helmsley. In fact, Mr Sell rang Geoff Simpson up the road at Helmsley to warn him there had been an attempted burglary at Hovingham - an excellent example of the 'rural grapevine' at work - but it wasn't enough to save Mr Simpson from a beating at the hands of the chainsaw-wielding gang later that afternoon.

Over at Brandsby, sub-postmaster Andrew Wright was also so alarmed by the spate of break-ins that he decided the meagre £48 a week income from the Post Office wasn't enough to justify the risk.

"We have two young children and one on the way, and we have decided we are going to shut it completely," he said this week.

But just how real is the security risk to rural post offices? Det Sgt Ian Fieldsend of Malton CID insists that four break-ins in 18 months - the ones at Nawton, Hovingham and Helmsley, plus Sherburn last October - does not constitute a 'marked rise' in attacks on rural post offices.

"I don't think post offices are any more at risk now than they were before," he says. He does understand the concerns of isolated rural sub-postmasters. "But what has brought it to a head this time is the amount of violence that was used at Helmsley."

He believes the raids at Helmsley and Nawton, and the attempted break-in at Hovingham, could be the work of the same gang. "If we can catch this gang, hopefully that will put an end to it," he says.

But until the gang is caught that is likely to be little comfort. And the perception that rural post offices are now being seen as 'soft' targets by criminals has led to a chorus of criticism of Post Office Ltd for not doing more to protect rural sub-branches.

David Sell says security at some rural post offices is shockingly poor - and that sub-postmasters simply aren't getting the necessary advice and support from the Post Office.

After the knife-raid on his own post office in December 2000 he did have visit from a Post Office security expert who agreed to install a time-lock safe - but refused to allow David to have a CCTV camera system.

"I offered to pay 50 per cent of the cost, and still I couldn't do it," he says bitterly. Instead, he says, the security man offered him a piece of sage advice. "He told us to keep a wheelbrace under the counter and rattle it on the counter if I had a problem," he says. "I asked if that was company policy."

Whether or not there really is a greater threat to rural post offices today, the perception is clearly that there is.

Just what steps should be taken to reduce that fear is difficult to answer. Most rural post-offices now have laminated security screens, alarms and timelock safes, says Michael Lewis of the York branch of the National Federation of Postmasters, who runs Huntington Post Office. But even timelock safes themselves involve an element of threat, according to David Sell.

What every sub-postmaster with a family really fears, he says, is the 'hostage situation', where a gang breaks in during the night and holds the family prisoner until the postmaster can be forced to unlock the safe in the morning.

Michael Lewis would like to see security visits to every sub post office by security experts from Post Office Ltd, perhaps every couple of years. "Just to make sure we're not doing anything totally stupid and we are at least as protected as we can be," he says.

For example, he says, there shouldn't be any post offices these days that still have wooden doors - a point reinforced by Det Sgt Fieldsend. A chainsaw was used to break into Helmsley post office, he points out.

"And it does not take a mastermind to know that had it been a metal door, they would not have been able to get through," he says.

In the wake of the recent attacks, police in Malton have been contacting rural post-offices, offering a visit from a crime prevention officer. Malton police are also contacting sub post-offices inviting them to sign up to the Ringmaster scheme - a telephone early-warning system akin to Neighbourhood Watch that will automatically inform postmasters if police suspect criminals are in the area.

There are also signs that managers at Post Office Ltd are beginning to take note, after recent accusations they were not doing enough. Their area manager, Owen Thackeray issued a statement saying the Post Office took security 'very seriously'.

In response to the recent incidents, a 'substantial number' of sub-post offices in North Yorkshire were to be visited over the next few days by security managers who would offer advice on an individual basis, he said.

Two leaflets offering advice were also to be circulated. "There is also the opportunity for them to contact members of the Post Office, if they are still concerned, to get further advice and or a visit," he added.

DS Fieldsend says it shouldn't be necessary to turn your post office into a fortress.

The most important thing, he says, is to be aware of the need for basic simple security measures such as you would employ in your own home. "Be sensible, but don't let it rule your life," he says. "I don't think post offices are actually at as much risk as people think they are."

The tragedy is that the climate of fear, coupled with the economic difficulties faced by rural shops and post-offices everywhere, could just push more country postmasters and mistresses into giving up.

And where will our rural communities be then?

Updated: 12:05 Thursday, January 23, 2003