THIEVES who attempted to ram-raid a Long Itchington cash machine with a stolen JCB are being hunted by police.
The yellow JCB, taken from the nearby area, was driven into the Co-op in Church Road at around 11pm on Wednesday (November 22).
The unsuccessful thieves drove off towards Bascote in a grey Audi RS4 Estate with the partial registration FX15.
A white Ford Transit van with the partial registration WPD was also seen in the area and may be connected.
The shop will be closed while building work takes place to make it safe.
Det Ins Tim Sharp said: “The offenders failed in their attempts to steal the ATM. However their criminal actions have caused a great deal of damage to the structure of the Co-op which remains closed pending structural survey. This has impacted greatly on the local community.
“Officers will be patrolling the area to provide reassurance to the local community while investigations continue.
“We are now working extremely hard to piece together exactly what occurred and find those responsible, and would urge anybody with information to contact us as soon as possible.
“In particular we are urging landowners to check their property for anything which may be connected to this incident and may have been dumped by the offenders as they left the scene.
“We would also like to speak to anybody who was in the area at the time of the offence and saw something which seemed suspicious or out of place.”
Any witnesses or anyone with information should call police on 101.
