Shipston on Stour Co-op ram raid thieves fail to open ATM

Thieves smashed into the front of a Co-operative shop, taking its cash machine and causing thousands of pounds of damage, police said.

It happened shortly before 02:45 GMT at the shop on High Street in Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire, and a yellow digger was left at the scene.

Within an hour, Warwickshire Police said it had traced the machine, but no money had been taken from it.

The Co-op said it is not sure when the shop will be able to re-open.

Resident Chris Hoof said: "I heard loud banging and the alarm going off so grabbed my keys and went down to have a look."

He said he saw a man in the driver's seat of a blue car and heard shouts, before running back upstairs to grab his phone.

He said: "I came back downstairs and saw them speed down the road with the ATM machine."

The force said that - following a search of the area - a Mitsubishi was located containing the stolen, but unopened, ATM.

It added its enquiries are ongoing and urged anyone with information to come forward.

A spokesman for the Co-op also appealed for anyone who may have seen or heard anything to come forward.

"It is too early to confirm when the store will re-open to serve the community as we await to fully assess the damage caused," they added.

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