A POSTMASTER chased a raider out of his shop following an attempted robbery at Hoo Post Office, near Rochester (Christina Qvistgaard writes).

Witnesses saw Harry Singh covered in blood as he rushed from the store in Main Road yesterday afternoon.

Mr Singh, 56, pursued a man who was running towards a car park followed by two other men. He was later treated for minor injuries at Gillingham's Medway Maritime Hospital.

Parish councillor Ben Reeves and his wife, Jenny, were on their way home when they spotted the postmaster race out of his shop.

Mr Reeves said: "We were just chatting to a friend when we saw Harry come across the parking lot covered in blood and I thought he must have had an accident. But he was pointing towards a man walking away and two men running after him."

Cllr Reeves said he saw the man put what appeared to be a chain away in a holdall before getting into a car.

"A man from the building society was trying to get him out of the car while I stood in front of it but then, without shutting the car door, he just drove out and the man from the building society and myself had to jump out of the way."

The robber continued driving out of the parking lot without shutting his doors and hit several other cars on the way out.

Mrs Reeves, a former parish councillor, said the incident had shocked her. "I'm terrified. You can't be safe anywhere," she added.