A ROBBER armed with a knife threatened a woman counter assistant as she opened a post office early yesterday.

The balaclava-clad robber burst in to the post office in Durham Road, Middlestone Moor, near Spennymoor, at 6.30am, brandishing a large kitchen knife.

He demanded money from the woman, who gave him a small amount of cash from the till. The raider then fled on foot.

Postmistress Sukhvinder Kaur said the counter worker was severely shaken by the incident and she was sent home.

"We opened the shop and he was in there straight away," she said.

"There were four people in the shop getting the papers ready.

"He only got a small amount, but it is not a matter of money. It is starting to get risky. He probably comes to the shop every day and says hello to us and we don't even know."

Police describe the raider as white, 5ft 10in, about 25, with short, dark hair. He was believed to be carrying a plastic bag, which was later recovered.

Detective Sergeant Paul Rowe, of Spennymoor police, said: "It may well be there were people in the area going to get their papers who may have seen something. It wasn't a particularly well-planned robbery."

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on (01388) 814411.

The raid is the latest in a number of post office robberies recently. Last month there were raids at Hamsterley, West Auckland, Derwentside and Gateshead post offices.