A cash machine ram raided with a digger in a Notts village ‘may be linked to similar incidents across the region’, say police.
Thieves used a JCB to rip out a cash machine at the Sainsbury’s on Bingham Road, Cotgrave in the early hours of the morning on August 7.
A telehandler was stolen from East Bridgford and was used to smash the wall down.
It was then left at the scene before the cash machine was loaded on to a pick-up truck.
A white Audi saloon car was also seen at the scene.
The pick-up truck was found abandoned in a field in Kirby Bellars, Leicestershire, but the Audi has not yet been traced.
And Detective Sergeant Michael Broddell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said the offence followed a similar pattern to other recent incidents that had happened across the region.
He said: “These offences almost always take place in the early hours and involve the use of a telehandler, a pick-up truck to take the cash machine away and then what is often a performance car as the final getaway vehicle.
“The offenders almost always use ratchet straps to remove the cash machines which are often discarded in nearby fields.
“Once stolen, the cash machines are taken to secluded barns or similar where they are cut up using angle grinders.
“The offenders conduct reconnaissance to identify these premises prior to the offences.
“Even offences as minor as causing lock damage to gates may be an indication that offenders intend to use the location to hide vehicles or as a dumping site after the offence.”
He added these offences have been taking place throughout the region recently but there was a distinctive focus along the Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire border.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 71 of August 7 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
