A VILLAGE postmaster was slashed with a knife after armed robbers targeted his premises, a court heard.

Two hooded men went into Blakedown Post Office while a third man waited in a getaway car parked on the pavement.

One man grabbed Michael Cowling around the neck then deliberately drew a knife across his hand to show they "meant business", said prosecutor Rachel Brand QC.

His accomplice grabbed the postmaster's daughter Helen, who also worked there, and held a gun to her head.

The gang escaped with £3,211 from the till and drove off in a stolen Audi 80 car, Worcester Crown Court was told.

Three Birmingham men - Theo Steadman, 24, of Heathy Rise, Woodgate Valley, Philip Berry, 24, of Constitution Hill, Hockley, and Damien Gordon, 21, of Hindlow Close, Nechells - all deny robbery and possession of a firearm while committing an offence.

Mr Cowling, postmaster for six years, told the jury there was "blood everywhere" as he was slashed and forced to hand over the keys. He needed three stitches in his wound.

The prosecutor said the Audi used in last year's robbery on January 17 had false number plates.

Police later found it parked outside Berry's home. He admitted using it but insisted he did not know it was stolen. A fortnight later Berry and Steadman were arrested after police saw them in a stolen Ford Escort, said Miss Brand.

An air pistol recovered from a car used by Steadman was "identical in all respects" to the weapon held at the head of Miss Cowling, the jury heard.

The trial continues.