Post Office Vandalised by Visitors; Staff Left Shocked
Listen to the story
A post office in the Oise region of France has been left seriously damaged after an incident involving a group of 'gens du voyage', a French term for travelling communities.
One employee described the building as being 'in a thousand pieces', showing how severe the damage was after the incident, which local media have called a rampage.
The staff working at the branch have been left traumatised by what happened. Being traumatised means feeling deeply shocked and upset after a frightening event.
Because of the damage, the post office has had to close for a long time. This means local customers cannot use its services until it reopens.
The report comes from a local newspaper covering the Oise area of northern France. It did not give many extra details about the exact events that caused the damage.
The same news report also mentioned two other separate local stories. One involved a photo of a police officer who has been placed under formal investigation for a driving-related death.
The second story concerned a man named Paul Tancre, who died during a police stop where he failed to comply with officers' orders. His body has now been returned to his family.
These stories appear to be unrelated to the post office incident but were reported together as local news updates from the same region.
No further information was given about when the post office might reopen or how the incident began.
Vocabulary5 words
- damaged
- harmed or broken
- rampage
- a period of wild, violent behaviour
- staff
- the people who work somewhere
- traumatised
- very shocked and upset after something bad
- investigation
- an official check into what happened
Quiz
Answer key
1. It was seriously damaged during an incident 2. A group of travelling people 3. He died during a police stop and his body was returned to his family
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
A post office in the Oise region of France has been left seriously _____ after an incident.
One employee described the building as being 'in a thousand _____'.
The staff working at the branch have been left _____ by what happened.
Because of the damage, the post office has had to _____ for a long time.
The report comes from a local _____ covering the Oise area.
One involved a photo of a police officer under formal _____.
This was for a driving-related _____.
Paul Tancre died during a police stop where he failed to _____ with officers' orders.
His body has now been returned to his _____.
No further information was given about when the post office might _____.