Four masked raiders burst into a Walsall post office today and stole cash before escaping in a waiting getaway car.

The balaclava-clad robbers brazenly charged into Moxley Post Office at 10.15am while a fifth gang member stayed at the wheel of a blue car outside.

They smashed the screen inside the shop and took a quantity of cash. It is thought the postmaster may have been injured in the attack in broad daylight.

Police set up a cordon around the Roberts Shopshop, and were questioning witnesses this afternoon.

Joan Hinton, aged 76, from Moxley, was in the post office at the time.

She said: “They came in and started shouting, so I ran out and went into the shop next door. I’m not sure what happened after that.

“It was a big shock, I have never seen anything like it before. You just don’t expect anything like that.”

Marie Price, aged 37, who lives in a flat above the row of shops, said: “I heard some banging and thought it didn’t sound right. I looked outside the window and there was a car with the passenger door open.

“There were four men who came running out and jumped into the car with a bag, and sped off.

“The shopkeeper was shaken up.”

Paramedics were called to the scene and a man, believed to be the postmaster, was treated for minor cuts to his hands.

Joanne Hunt, spokeswoman for Walsall Police, said: “Four offenders wearing balaclavas went into the shop and a fifth offender was driving a vehicle.

“They entered the post office with some kind of weapon. They smashed the screen inside the shop and stole cash before escaping in a blue vehicle.”

Anyone with information  is asked to call Walsall Police on 0345 113 5000.