The three men, clad in balaclavas, burst into Ashley Post Office on Monday afternoon while it was empty.

One smashed the security glass with a hammer and the other two forced the sub-postmistress to lay on the floor at gunpoint.

The sub-postmistress, who has not been named by detectives, was badly shaken by the ordeal - her second in as many years - but not injured.

Neighbours speaking immediately after the 4pm robbery were unaware that anything had happened at all - except for the teams of detectives and police officers combing the village.

A visibly-shocked elderly man told the Knutsford Guardian how he had found the shop closed when he tried to buy a paper - 20 minutes after the raiders had fled.

"I could have walked right into it," he said.

A fourth man - waiting in a car outside the Ashley Road office - drove the gang away with an undisclosed sum of money.

"They made threats and they had hand guns," said Det Inspector John Birt. "You can't get much nastier than that."

Investigations centre on the black Vauxhall Vectra used in the robbery.

It was stolen a week ago in Stockport, spotted racing through Hale after the raid and was later found burned-out in Benchill, Wythenshawe.

Detectives also believe a fair-haired woman who drove away from the post office in a red Land Rover Discovery moments after the raid could be a vital witness.

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