BRITAIN’S bravest postie foiled his 14th robbery by laughing in the armed raiders’ faces and telling them to “p**s off” – despite being faced with a shotgun.

Paul Bennett, 59, was working alone when a pair of would-be robbers threatened him with a firearm.

But the heroic dad-of-two surprised them when he told them to “p**s off” and watched as they gave up and left.

Paul, from East Grinstead, who started working in his parents’ Post Office when he was 15, has foiled 14 attempted robberies.

He said: “I’m very calm and collected, nothing fazes me now.

“Two guys walked into the Post Office, one stayed by the door, the other one came straight up to the counter.

“He had a holdall with a shotgun poking out at the front.

“He said, ‘give me the money’ – the police said he must have been to robber school.

“I actually said p**s off. He said, ‘no mate, I’m serious, open the safe.

“I said, ‘it’s not going to happen’ and walked away from him to the corner where I’ve got a brick wall between me and them.

“It was just a case of, ‘no, it’s highly unlikely you are going to shoot me otherwise you would have done something’.

“He looked at the other guy and shook his head and they left. I think he was just surprised I said no.

“It was all over in a minute. I think I was more annoyed than anything else and I do tend to keep quite calm.”

Speaking after Sussex Police appealed for witnesses to the attempted robbery at the Stone Quarry Sub Post Office last Friday, he added: “I actually built this one 30 years ago.

“I’ve worked for the Post Office and banks for 40 years. There were many robberies in the 80s and 90s, but it has definitely increased recently.

“I’m now 59, my parents had a Post Office when I was 15.”

“I’ve been doing it for years – you tend to get a bit more confident.”

Brave Paul has so far stopped 14 robberies - and even has his own methods for dealing with attackers.

He said: “It’s unfortunate but as I say I tend to keep calm and I slept well on Friday - I’m not going to have nightmares about it.

“If I had been an 18-year-old girl working in one of the open plan offices we probably would not be having this kind of conversation now.

He said: “There was one in south London where they actually fired the shotgun – that was probably the scariest.

"That was back in the 80s, the gun fired into the ceiling.”

“No I wasn’t scared but then I was in a huge office and I happened to be the one in the front, they went.”

His last attempted robbery was at his Post Office in June this year.

“A youngster with a crash helmet tried to get through the parcel hatch with a knife but I hit him back and he went.”

“I got a tiny nick on the finger but it was just a nick.”

He said he had no plans to retire and that he was protecting the public purse in his job: “It’s all Government money when we come to balance at the end of the day.”

Police said: “A postal worker bravely foiled an attempted robbery.

"The suspect who demanded the cash was about 5ft 6in, aged 35 to 40 and spoke with a local accent.

"He wore a white boiler suit and appeared to have a shotgun in a black holdall.

"Both men wore masks and gloves.”