MORE than £50,000 was netted during a raid on a Burnley post office - less than three months after a gang grabbed £100,000 in a similar incident on the same block.

Police described both raids in Colne Road as "highly professional" and have not ruled out the possibility of a link between the two.

In the latest incident thieves escaped from Colne Road Post Office with a four foot by four foot safe containing £53,000 after disconnecting the alarm on the front of the building.

Police said they used a ladder, which had been chained and padlocked in a yard in nearby Ford Street, to reach the alarm on the front of the building on the busy main road and were cheeky enough to return the ladder after they had finished with it.

They broke into the rear of the post office, which is run by Mohammed Arslam, between midnight and 6am on Tuesday.

Detective Constable Ian Gibbs said the raid was very professional and could be related to the burglary, in November, of a dentist surgery in Colne Road.

On that occasion, thieves broke into the surgery after an arson attack in the same week led to it being boarded up.

They tunnelled their way through a wall from the surgery into the next door Barclay's Bank, escaping with £100,000. DC Gibbs said: "It is very similar and in both cases there were empty premises next door."

The safe also contained excise licences and scratch cards.

Police would not comment on whether any tunnelling had taken place inside the building or what damage had been caused.

A spokesman for Post Officers Counters said: "We won't pretend there wasn't a great loss but the good thing is that no one was there to be injured when it happened.

"Our main concern now is to get the office reopened as soon as possible.

"Unfortunately because of the damage inside, it won't be before next week but there will be a sign put up to advise customers."

Anyone with information should call Burnley CID on 01282 472143.

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