Car catches fire in botched Ryhall ram-raid

Leicestershire Police said the car caught fire after crashing into Ryhall Post Office in the early hours of Monday morning

A 4x4 vehicle caught fire when it crashed into a village post office in a failed ram-raid, police have said.

The botched burglary at Ryhall Post Office, Rutland, stunned the building's live-in owners and neighbours, who were woken by an "almighty bang" at about 03:30 GMT on Monday.

Leicestershire Police said no access was gained to the building, but damage was caused to the exterior.

Witnesses reported seeing two men flee in an Audi coupe.

Police said inquiries into the incident are ongoing

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The force, which did not say if the 4x4 was stolen, said nothing was taken from the post office. A spokeswoman added no-one was injured and inquiries are continuing.

Miranda Amies has run the post office for almost five years with her husband Dave.

She said: "We were woken by a loud bang and all the alarms going off.

"We came downstairs and saw the damage... loads of Christmas stock smashed on the floor."

She added: "There was a huge flash from outside as the vehicle went up in flames.

"It was really frightening - I thought the whole building was going to catch fire and come down."