A VILLAGE postmaster was viciously beaten up by two thugs who stole £10,000 cash from his safe. The robbers drove up in a new MG saloon, stolen less than an hour earlier, as the shopkeeper was alone in the post office, in Lower Stoke High Street, near Strood.

Shocked witnesses looked on in horror as the men fled at high speed through the quiet village after the snatch between 4.45pm and 5pm yesterday.

The first man came into the shop and bought a drink before returning with his accomplice between five to 10 minutes later. As they asked the postmaster, who is in his 60s, for some batteries one of them grabbed him round the throat, punched him in the face and kicked him in the head as he fell to the ground.

As he lay slumped on the floor, the second man pushed open the security door and grabbed the money. A customer about to come into the store gave the postmaster immediate medical attention while another managed to get the vehicle registration number. The grey MGZT saloon, registration CBO2 MJB, had been stolen from outside a house in a residential area of Rochester at around 4.30pm.

Det Insp Dan Murphy, who is leading the inquiry, said: "This was a very nasty attack on an elderly victim. There were some people around at this time but we are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen the men hanging around ,or saw the vehicle speed off, to come forward."

Detectives are not at the moment linking the robbery with similar incidents but say it is unlikely the men are local. The postmaster was left with a bruised left eye, cut lip, bloody nose and a back injury. Police today said he was too shocked to talk to anyone about the robbery.

The first man is described as black, aged between 30 to 35, 5ft 9ins, thin, with short black hair, clean-shaven and wearing a black casual jacket. The other was also black, he was aged between 25 to 30, 5ft 9ins, thin, with cropped black hair, clean-shaven and wearing a brown-check jumper.

Anyone with information should ring Medway police on 01634 884071 or the Crimestoppers confidential line on 0800 555111.