THREE men were arrested after a concerted bid to remove a village store cash machine was aborted early today.

A gang using a mechanical digger and home-made 'stinger' devices attempted to remove the 'hole in the wall' machine from the Co-op food store, in Ushaw Moor, near Durham.

The store alarm was triggered when the attack began, at around 4.20am.

Neighbours reported seeing two men in a digger attempting to prise the cash machine from the outside wall of the store, in Broom Lane.

Police responding to the incident were confronted by the stingers, metal spiked devices placed across approach roads leading to the scene to delay their arrival.

A police helicopter was also deployed to assist the search for those responsible, as dawn began to break.

The digger was abandoned outside the store, alongside the badly damaged outer wall of the premises, and the men were seen running away through nearby fields.

A vehicle, possibly a small works van, believed to have been used to place the stinger devices on the nearby roads, was also found abandoned near the village.

Witnesses reported that the two men seen at the scene were wearing balaclavas, or ski masks, and one was using a mobile phone.

The three men arrested were said to be helping police inquiries, as investigations continued at the scene, which was sealed off by police tape either side of the targeted store.

Anyone with information about the raid is asked to ring police, on 0345-60 60 365.