Couple tell of heartache as Castle Gresley Post Office is burgled for sixth time

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A couple who run the post office in Castle Gresley have said they might shut the shop after their 'dream turned into a nightmare' with a sixth burglary in just five years.

Michael and Maria Hancox from Swadlincote took on the Castle Gresley Post Office in Linton Road 12 years ago, as Maria had always dreamed of running her own post office.

But in the last five years, thieves have burgled the post office three times, carried out an armed robbery, and burgled their other business Treats and Sweets in Church Gresley twice.

In the most recent break-in, thieves only stole the £10 float in the till, a Barnados charity tin, and a couple of packets of cigarettes.

Mr Hancox, 64, explained that they have stopped selling cigarettes to reduce temptation and he and his wife are currently discussing whether it is worth continuing the post office business after facing so much crime.

He said: "When we got married, Maria wanted a post office of her own. This was her dream but it has turned into a nightmare. This isn't what we envisaged.

"To be honest, you get to the point where you wonder whether it is worth carrying on. They have taken our trust and I don't know if that will ever come back.

"It feels as if I have wasted 12 years of my life. Considering the hours we work, and what we get out of it, and for someone just to think 'I'll have that'. We are now thinking about closing up."

Mr Hancox said his heart sank when he got a phone call from the alarm system company at 3.44am on Friday, November 4, and when he arrived at the shop the police were already there.

The front door had been smashed, which cost £150 to replace, and the criminals had ripped the post office counter apart in trying to gain access to the safe, but the alarm went off and the thieves fled.

Mr Hancox said: "There was only a very small amount of cash in the till.

"Now, if a stranger comes in, we think have they really just come in for a stamp? It's sad really that it makes us think that way."


Michael Hancox and wife Maria are considering selling the Post Office

Mr Hancox was at the shop from 4am until 7pm that night while the glass in the door was replaced.

Before taking on the Post Office, Mr Hancox was a car mechanic, but Maria has been a postmaster for 20 years.

They bought Castle Gresley Post Office 12 years ago and Treats and Sweets in Church Gresley eight years ago, but their first burglary was only in 2011 and problems have escalated since.

During the first burglary at Treats and Sweets four years ago, cigarettes were taken, and then two years ago nothing was taken even though the door was smashed in.

At the post office, the first burglary took place five years ago where thieves took £10 from the till, but it happened on the morning of their grandson's first birthday and they were so traumatised by the mess and incident that they couldn't go to his party.

A second burglary two years ago was foiled by a neighbour who shouted at the thieves from his bedroom window.


Six months ago, on June 3, a robber entered the Post Office at 4.30pm and threatened Mrs Hancox and stole money from the till.

Mrs Hancox blamed the economic climate for the sudden spate of burglaries, particularly those they have suffered over the last five years.

She said: "I don't know what makes these people think 'let's go and rob a post office', not realising it is all locked in a safe.

"Times are hard for a lot of folk and people are getting desperate for whatever reason.

"But how much more of this can we take? We don't deserve it. We work long hours and we work hard."

Mr Hancox was so incensed by the most recent theft that he penned a poem to express how he felt. The grandfather of 15 has been writing poems for 20 years.


Mr Hancox reading his poem, Thanks

They smashed the door, to get inside,

Stole all the fags we had tried hard to hide.

Opened the till, and took the money therein

Even stole the Barnado's collecting tin.

Glass all around, and mess on the floor

Drives you to think, I cant take much more.

Seven days a week, eleven hours a day

Just so someone else, can take it away.

Does this seem fair, it can't be right

For some one to steal, in the middle of the night.

And no one sees, or hears a sound

All through the smashing, and crashing around.

So to the people that did this bad deed

I hope there comes a day that you too, will need

The service and goods that you've taken away.

Not just the counter, you kicked apart

You've taken our trust, and ripped out our heart.