A POST Office owner has told how his life flashed before him as an armed robber held a weapon to his head.

Mahesh Gandhi, who owns the community shop and Post Office at Downside Road in Risinghurst with his wife Hema Gandhi, was forced to hand over more than £300 in cash to the gun-wielding robber.

The masked man burst in through the shop door just before 9pm closing time on Tuesday.

Father-of-two Mr Gandhi said thoughts of his wife and two grown up children flashed through his mind as the gunman, whose face was obscured by a black balaclava, brandished the weapon and demanded he stuff a rucksack with cash.

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Mr Gandhi said: “He stormed in and said ‘give me the money and put it in the bag otherwise I will shoot’.

“I opened the till and and gave him some money but still he was greedy and he opened the till himself and took the rest of the cash.

“It was a nightmare experience but I had to deal with it as calmly as possible. Sometimes you read in the media what can happen so I was just hoping for the best.”After the raid, which lasted just a few minutes, the robber left the shop on foot and headed down the adjacent Stanway Road.

Mr Gandhi captured the robber on the 23 CCTV cameras he installed after Mrs Gandhi was herself threatened by a gunman in 1997.

He said the CCTV footage showed two men waiting at the bus stop opposite the post office for about 10 minutes before the raid. Afterward, the robber turned right out of the store and walked away up Stanway Road.

Simon Ambler, who lives in nearby Ridgeway Road, found what he believed to be a replica gun, in a bush near his home on Wednesday.

He called the police and forensic officers searched bushes in Stanway Road at lunch time on Wednesday. Police yesterday had not confirmed what they had recovered.

Mrs Gandhi said she was relieved her husband was uninjured but said the threats she suffered in 1997 were much worse.

She said: “It was was worse on that occasion. He made me take him to the Post Office and I had to tell the assistant to give him the money.”

Asked if the robberies have made her worry about her safety at work she said: “I think if it was one of those very big robberies it would have scared me more, but it was quite amateurish so I am not too worried.”

Mrs Gandhi’s father-in-law Chambak Gandhi was shot and badly injured in an armed raid on the post office he owned in East Ham, London, in 1980. On that occasion the gunman was given a life sentence.

Mr Gandhi and his wife were said to be well loved by members of the Risinghurst community and the couple often take supplies to the community’s elderly or infirm.

Nigel McRostie, who has lived opposite the Post Office for 20 years, said: “It’s very sad, given what the store does for the community.

“It’s very well used and it’s a hub round here really.

“The couple are great and are really welcoming.”

Tanya Fitz-Gibbon, 36, who works at Gracie JS hair salon next door to the Gandhi’s post office, added: “It’s quite scary because we were open until 8pm in the run-up to Christmas so it could have been us.

“I just think it’s wrong how someone can come into someone’s business or home and intimidate them like that.

“I don’t think anybody should be put in that position when they go to work.”

Police described the robber as about 5ft 8” tall, wearing a black puffa jacket with a hood, dark trousers and a face covering.

DS Simon Hannam said: “This was undoubtedly a frightening experience for the staff involved and officers are doing everything they can to identify and locate the offenders.

“Fortunately no one was hurt but violent crime like this will not be tolerated.”

A 28-year-old man from Oxford was arrested Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of robbery.

He remained in custody yesterday.

Anyone with any information can call DS Hannam on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

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