BRAZEN thieves used a heavy duty telehandler to rip a cash machine from a shop wall.

They used the machine – similar to a digger – to knock down the wall and then lifted it into the back of a pick-up before driving away.

Police were alerted at around 2.25am today, January 22, after an emergency alarm was activated at the Co-op in Ryedale Court, Haxby near York.

Eyewitness Amanda Nicholson, who lives opposite the shop, said she and her husband were woken by the noise and called the police giving them a blow-by-blow account of the raid.

She said: "I saw a tractor or a fork-lift type vehicle going backwards and forwards into the building, and then the wall fell in.

"The cash machine fell onto the floor, and they picked it up and plonked it on the back of a truck.

"The roof fell down and nearly hit one of the raiders, but he jumped out of the way just in time.

"It all happened so quickly, I didn't see any faces. It was like watching a video or something."

The thieves had fled with the cash machine before the police arrived but left the telehandler at the scene

Police are now making extensive enquiries to identify those involved and even called in the police helicopter to help in the search.

Detective Inspector Andrea Kell said: "I am appealing to anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the area in the early hours of Thursday morning to get in touch with the police or Crimestoppers as soon as possible."

Contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option two and ask for York CID.

Alternatively, information can be emailed toYorkCID@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk or Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.