Blown up Spondon Post Office created 'ghost town'

The empty cash machine was seen among debris outside the Post Office

A village has been likened to a "ghost town" after its Post Office was blown up with about £70,000 taken from a cash machine.

Debris was strewn outside the shop in Chapel Street, Spondon, Derby, following the explosion on 22 October.

The shop remains closed and the local traders association claim it is putting people off coming to the area.

The Post Office said it is "fully committed" to restoring the store "as soon as possible".

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Ruth Bartlett, from the Spondon Traders Association, said it is trying to keep people using the local shops but claim "without a post office it's becoming a struggle".

She said: "People are going into Borrowash and using those facilities."

A local resident said: "The village half the time is dead [since the Post Office closure] - it's like a ghost town."

Barry Drake, who owns a shoe shop close to the Post Office, said: "Sixty-five per cent of my trade is pensioners and there's not many about in the village at the minute."

The Post Office in Spondon has been refitted but is yet to reopen

In a statement, the Post Office said: "We are fully committed to restoring a full-time Post Office to Spondon as soon as possible."

It added that a mobile Post Office has been visiting the village twice a week since February.

No arrests have been made since the explosion.