The Oldcastle post mistress and her husband were held hostage overnight by raiders who escaped with a sum of less that €10,000 from the post office.

A number of armed raiders last night forced their way into the couple's home in Virginia, and held the two against their will.

They then instructed the woman to go to the post office at Oldcastle this morning and forced her to hand over a sum of money while her husband was being held. He was taken from his home and later released in Swords. The post mistress was also released.

Gardaí are trying to establish how much money was in the post office, but they believe less than €10,000 was taken from a small safe.

Gardaí have appealed to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious at three locations - the couple's home in Virginia, the post office in Oldcastle, and Swords, Co Dublin - to contact them.