A Post Office near Maidstone is likely to remain closed until after Christmas, a spokesman said, after thieves used a digger to rip a safe out of the building.

The attack has resulted in serious damage to Bearsted Post Office, which shares premises in Ashford Road with Paydens the Chemist.

Paydens is unaffected and remains open for business as usual.

It is not the first time the small parade of shops has been targeted by thieves using a mechanical digger.

Back in May 2008, a gang also stole heavy machinery from a building site and crashed through the front of what was then the NatWest bank, which used to stand two doors down from the Post Office, in an attempt to steal the ATM.

On that occasion, 11 years ago, the raiders fled without actually taking the cash machine - down in large part to eagle-eyed residents who had witnessed the digger being stolen and called police, who arrived in time to disturb the robbers who fled without getting any cash.

At the time, one resident who spoke to KentOnline described hearing an almighty crash and seeing the arm of the JCB flying up in the air as it was driven over a grass verge towards the bank.

This time round, the thieves were more successful. They crashed a digger through the back of the post office and took the safe, which contained an undisclosed amount of money.

The digger had been stolen from a building site in Pluckley Road, Charing, 12 miles away at 10pm the previous evening, and is believed to have been taken to Bearsted on a low-loader lorry.

The Bearsted raid happened at around 12.30am. The thieves first drove through the car park of the Cavendish Cafe to the rear of the buildings and then smashed through a fence to reach the Post Office.

The attack is the 16th similar ram-raid in Kent this year - though most of the others have targeted ATM machines.

They included strikes at the Co-op Stores in Lenham, Kennington near Ashford, Broadstairs, Tunbridge Wells, Dartford, Wye and Cranbrook.

There have also been ram-raids at the Spar shop in Staplehurst, and The Offy in Whitstable, the Shell garage at Detling near Maidstone, the One Stop shop in High Halden, the Asda in Tunbridge Wells, the Kent Reliance in Hempstead Valley near Gillingham, the Little Shop in Cobham and the Nisa Local in Sevenoaks.

KMTV report as police crackdown after spate of ram raids

The former NatWest at Bearsted closed in June 2016, but it was unconnected to the ram-raid, but rather one of a sequence of branch closures that year.

The nearest alternative post offices to Bearsted are at Grove Green and Willington Street and Kingsley Road.

Witnesses or anyone with information is urged to call the police appeal line on 01622 604 100, quoting reference 13-0027, or the anonymous Crimestoppers hotline on 0800 555111 or by completing an online form at Crimestoppers-uk.org

To get the latest updates on ongoing cases, police appeals and criminals put behind bars, click here