MORE than £1,000 in currency was stolen from a post office by burglars who broke in through the floor of the flat above.

The thieves smashed their way through the front door of the first-floor flat over the post office in the High Street, Chipping Ongar, before tunnelling their way into the shop below.

They grabbed what police described as a four-figure sum of cash in sterling, euros and dollars, causing £2,400 worth of damage, before breaking their way out of the front door of the post office and escaping into the High Street.

Warwick Woodall, 50, who owns the neighbouring Woodall Joinery was the first to discover the break-in when he arrived at work the following morning.

He said: "They had a fire last year or the year before and it took a year to rebuild the shop, so it's been quite stressful for them.

"They've been there about 10 years.

"I discovered it at about 8.30am and they don't normally open the shop until 9am. I got one of my members of staff to call the police.

"They came in through the ceiling and came out through the door.

"It's the main post office round here. A lot of people use it."

The break-in took place some time between 1am and 2am on Saturday, April 2, and the damage was still being repaired at the post office this morning (Wednesday).

No-one at the post office was prepared to comment.

Anyone with information on the theft should call Sergeant James Paget at Epping Police Station on 0300 333 4444.