A village shopkeeper has told how break-in thieves repeatedly hammered on toughened glass in the early hours of the morning.

Carole Thompson was asleep at home above Fletcher’s newsagents and shop in West Road, Ormesby, when her dog started barking and she became aware someone was trying to smash their way in.

Without thinking her husband Lee and son Vincent dashed downstairs while she alerted the police.

She estimated they struck the door some 13 times, but roared away in a vehicle when they realised their plan had been thwarted.

She said: “It was very scary.”

“And it is horrible now not being able to see through the door where it has been boarded up.”

Mrs Thompson, whose family have run the sop for 50 years, said it was security measures put in after a previous attempt more than 20 years ago that had saved them.

But, the family was looking into CCTV as a further precaution.

The attack happened at around 2am on Tuesday morning.

It is being linked to another attempted break-in at Filby Post Office the same night.

Post master Adrian Thompson discovered the damage to a door at around 4am when he arrived for work.

He said the whole experience was “unsettling” but that it was “business as usual” at the Main Road premises.

Police forensics have been combing both premises and police cars have mounted extra patrols.

Officers say CCTV footage shows four men in a car and they are appealing for witnesses who may have seen them acting suspiciously in the area between 2am and 3am.

Mr Thompson, whose family have run the lifeline service since 1963, said it was the first time anything like an attempted break-in had happened.

He said: “When I came to work at 4am I found the damage to the door and that put me on red alert because you do not know what is about.

“We are pretty good here and this is unusual,” he said.

“I do not like this kind of thing here in Filby but there’s no real harm done, we have got to keep the wheels turning.”

Anyone with information should call Norfolk Police on 101 or Crimestoppers via 0800 555111