POLICE investigating a dramatic raid which saw thieves steal an ATM after smashing into a supermarket store wall and then ram police in an attempt to get away are not ruling out links to other similar crimes.

At least four balaclava-clad thieves ripped an ATM from the Morrisons store before ramming a police van as they fled armed officers today.

Police said it happened at Morrisons in Wetherby Road, Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, at about 2.15am.

The Northern Echo:

The scene of the ATM raid in Boroughbridge. Picture: PATRICK DUNLOP/STRAY FM

Last month, there was an attempted ATM theft at Sainsbury’s on Stainsacre Lane in Whitby, where suspects used a JCB to try and remove it from the wall.

An ATM was also blown up at a Co-operative Bank cashpoint outside a Matalan store in Darlington in an explosion that shook homes more than two miles away.

The Northern Echo:

BLAST: Explosives used to blow open cash machine in Darlington. Picture: CHRIS BOOTH

A spokeswoman for Durham Constabulary confirmed no-one has been arrested in connection with the raid and investigations are ongoing.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said “there is no apparent link”, but confirmed the force is “keeping an open mind”.

At Morrisons in Boroughbridge, thieves used a red Manitou telehandler to tear the ATM from the wall before loading it onto a white Ford Transit flat-bed tipper van.

Police armed response vehicles and a dog section van were alerted to the scene within one minute.

The latter vehicle was rammed by the Transit van, causing damage, but the dog handler and the dogs were not injured.

The Transit van was abandoned at Morrisons with the stolen ATM machine left on the back.

It is believed the suspects made off in a white Mercedes car that was travelling in convoy with the Transit van.

The Mercedes failed to stop for the armed response officers and it fled along the A168 towards the A1(M).

It is suspected the car was travelling towards the Humberside area.

The telehandler and the Transit van have been recovered by police.

  • Witnesses or anyone with information are urged to contact police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111, quoting reference number 12170201202.