TWO men were last night arrested by police investigating a ram raid which destroyed the front of a Co-op store in a normally- peaceful North Yorkshire market town.

One eyewitness described the scene in Masham as like something from a movie.

Ram raiders, wearing tights over their heads, used a stolen digger to prise a cash machine from the Co-op store in Park Street in the early hours of yesterday.

The raid caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.

They then piled it onto the back of a low-loader, before fleeing.

Lesley Musgrave, who runs Masham News, opposite the Co-op, was woken by the noise of the ram raid taking place.

She watched while her husband called police.

“It was at 3am when we were woken,” she said. “We saw a low-loader and a digger.

The low-loader was swivelling in the road and crashed into a bollard and then into the cash machine.

“The swing hook was then used to rip the machine from the wall. They seemed rather clumsy as they tried three times to load the machine onto the low-loader.

“It was noisy, with the beeping of the machine, sirens and the men shouting.”

Mrs Musgrave took the number plate of one of the vehicles, which is understood to have been stolen from a nearby farm, and gave it to police.

She said: “It was like watching a movie from my bedroom window, it was unbelievable.

At first, I thought I was still asleep.”

Chief Inspector Mark Kahn, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “A JCB has been used to knock the cash point from the wall. It has then been taken away on a flat-back trailer.”

Park Street was closed for several hours while a forensic examination of the scene took place.

Chief Insp Kahn added: “We would appeal to any farmers, or people working on the land in the Masham area, to keep a look-out for any unusual vehicles, in particular a flatback trailer.”

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said two men aged 24 and 27 were arrested and were last night in custody while inquiries continue.

Anyone with information is asked to call the force’s new non-emergency number, 101.