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Cash machine ripped from Co-op in latest ram raid

Rachael McMenemy
News imageJamie Niblock/BBC Knocked over trolleys lie on top of wooden and brick debris outside a Co-op. The wall is damaged and there is a hole in the front of the shop.Jamie Niblock/BBC
After the cash machine was ripped out it was loaded onto a black pick-up truck

A cash machine was ripped from a village shop's wall in an early morning ram raid.

Police were called to reports of the theft at 03:45 BST at the Co-op in High Street, Lakenheath, Suffolk.

A JCB telehandler - a construction vehicle combining features of a forklift and a crane - had been used to rip out the ATM, which was then loaded onto a black Nissan Navara pick-up truck, Suffolk Police said.

The truck had been set alight and it was found with the cash machine about 45 minutes later across the border in Cowle's Drove in the Norfolk village of Hockwold, near Thetford.

News imageJohn Jest A yellow JCB is seen in the background of a police cordon. A police car is in the foreground immediately behind some police tape. In the background damage to the co-op can also be seen with a hole in the front of the store where the windows and cash machine previously were.John Jest
A yellow digger was inside the police cordon in Lakenheath on Wednesday

The Navara had been seen driving away in convoy with a blue Volkswagen Golf R along Station Road towards Brandon, the force added.

A police chase had begun when officers thought they had spotted the Golf speeding away from the spot where the truck had been set on fire.

A police stinger was used, blowing out one of the Golf's tyres. It was driven into a field off Mill Drift in Hockwold, got stuck in mud and was abandoned, police said.

The occupants fled and - despite searches with a helicopter - could not be found.

News imageJamie Niblock/BBC Wood, trolleys and other debris are scattered across the ground with visible damage.Jamie Niblock/BBC
The shop was badly damaged

A second black Nissan Navara pick-up was found at 08:25 on farmland off Wangford Road, north of RAF Lakenheath. Police have not established if it had been linked to the ram raid.

Part of High Street remained closed on Wednesday while the Co-op building was assessed.

There were also police cordons where the two pick-ups and the Golf had been found.

Police are appealing for witnesses.

Earlier this month, there were two ram raids in two days in Cambridgeshire, at Ramsey and Burwell.

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