A hole was left in the wall of a post office after an attempted break-in over the bank holiday. 

The 3ft tall hole was made in the back wall of Stainton Post Office, near Penrith, between 8pm on Sunday and 8.30am on Monday. 

Police said it was made using an unknown cutting tool and that tools were also used to cut off the water supply. A toilet on the other side of the wall was knocked over causing water to spray everywhere. 

A spokeswoman for Cumbria police said: "Although further investigations confirmed no one actually got inside the post office, the damage done to the wall clearly took some time to accomplish and would have made quite a noise." 

The Jakeman family run both the post office and the Kings Arms pub which are on the main road through the village. 

"It looks like a saw or something like that. We were very lucky they didn't get in but they've just caused a bit of damage and mess," said Hilary Jakeman. 

"It was my husband who found it. 

"My son lives here and it was bank holiday Monday so I wasn't opening the shop but I wanted to sell newspapers from the pub. That's when we noticed." 

Officers are appealing to anyone with information to get in touch on 101. Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555111.