POPULAR postmaster Alan Lloyd is quitting his much-loved job - because he says it is too dangerous.

Alan is to give up his position at the Manchester Road office, Preston, two years after a pair of thugs attempted to rob the store.

The pair, who were not caught, threw a marble gravestone through the security window while Alan, 46, his assistant Pam and a terrified elderly customer looked on.

Alan, from Charnock Richard, who has a certificate for bravery from Post Office Counters, said: "It happened on a Thursday morning and my assistant was about to take her break. Two men rushed in and threw a two-metre slab of marble through the window.

"From then on it was all panic and mayhem. One of the men tried to climb through the hole he had made in the window and I picked up a stool and tried to hold him back."

"When I first started in this job 13 years ago we never had this problem.

"We had people trying to cash stolen giros, but they would clear off as soon as you reached for the phone.

"There is more arrogance nowadays - it's as if the money they are stealing really belongs to them.

"Anyone who works in retailing and has cash behind the counter is at risk."

Alan and wife Vivien are now planning a break with their two children Gregory, nine and Megan, eight.

He added: "I'm going to look around and look at myself and what I am going to do in the coming years until I retire."

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