Trail of damage as 'hole in the wall' gang flee with cash machine
Published 22 Jun 2012 14:00
POLICE are hunting a gang which caused thousands of pounds' damage early today by ramming a stolen digger into the front of a petrol station to rip out its hole in the wall cash machine.
The digger was stolen from a building site near the BP garage in Basingstoke Road, Three Mile Cross, at around 3am, before being driven on to the forecourt.
Detectives say the gang fled with the machine, containing an unknown amount of cash, in a stolen silver BMW and a white flatbed lorry believed to have been taken from the Sonning area. Both vehicles - the lorry burned out - were later found abandoned across the Hampshire border in the Bramshill area and are being examined by forensic experts.
Det Sgt Carl Bradford, based at Loddon Valley police station, said: "There has been a huge amount of damage caused to the BP garage and there would have been a great deal of noise caused during the incident, so I am appealing for any witnesses to come forward.
"I am also looking to speak to anyone with information about the theft of the two vehicles which the offenders made off in, or anyone who saw the vehicles following the incident in the Berkshire or Hampshire areas."
Contact Det Con Anna Croft at Force CID in Loddon Valley via the 24-hour Police Enquiry Centre on 101, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 22 Jun 12
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