Bank wall ripped out in cash machine raid

A gang which uses JCB diggers to steal bank cash machines stuffed with tens of thousands of pounds has struck again.

The latest ram-raid - the fourth this year - came a day after police offered a £10,000 reward for the gang's capture.

The raid took place in the early hours of Saturday morning when the NatWest cashpoint would have been full of money in anticipation of demand from weekend shoppers.

The hole-in-the-wall machine was ripped out using a six-tonne JCB, leaving just a large hole where the front of the high street bank had been

in the normally quiet village of Borough Green, near Sevenoaks. The machine was carried off in another vehicle.

Inspector Ian Depledge of Kent Police said: "A NatWest cash machine in the high street of Borough Green was attacked with a JCB.

"We were alerted by the bank's automatic alarm and by a call from a member of the public. The JCB was left at the scene. It is possible that this is linked to previous cash-machine thefts."

The machine snatched at 2.30am on Saturday is thought to have been loaded with thousands of pounds. Part of the high street was sealed off as police picked through the rubble for clues.

The gang is thought to have began its destructive spree in December, targeting a Halifax bank in Maidstone. Two more raids followed - one at Sainsbury's supermarket in Northfleet, in which two cash machines were stolen - and another in Gillingham High Street in which three more ATMs vanished.

The machines, which can hold up to £80,000, were later found smashed open and dumped in nearby fields.

On Friday, Kent's assistant chief constable Adrian Leppard offered a reward for the gang's capture.

He said: "We are treating these ramraids very seriously and are currently talking with the banking industry to explore ways to make it harder for people to commit this type of crime.

"We're looking at deterrents such as money-spoiling devices, tracking devices and other security measures to stop cash machines from being stolen.

"In addition, we are talking to local plant hire companies, contractors and building companies to ask them to secure their plant more thoroughly so they cannot be used in this way."

Forensic officers are examining the dumped JCB used in the latest attack.

Anyone with information should call Kent Police on 01622 654321.

One man has been arrested in connection with the raid. Police have not yet released details.