A cash machine containing thousands of pounds was grabbed by a gang after they battered it from its mounting in an early hours ram raid on a Leeds suburban post office.
The front of Cottingley sub-post office on Cottingley Vale, Leeds, was extensively damaged when a Mitsubishi Shogun was reversed over a pedestrian area and through the glass entrance.
The ATM machine was bolted to the floor of the post office, but the impact from the 4 x 4 freed it from the fixings and enabled the gang – believed to be three or four strong - to load it into the vehicle and drive away.
The raid is believed to been carried out by an experienced team who stole the car an hour before the robbery by ‘hot-wiring’ the vehicle in Stonefield Street, Cleckheaton, at 12.30am last Friday.
After ramming the post office the gang is thought to have headed along Cottingley Drive and onto the A610 Beeston Ring Road before driving at speed up Gelderd Road.
The robbers then drove to Parkway in Gildersome where they abandoned their getaway car and switched to at least one other vehicle before disappearing. Remnants of the cash machine were found dumped on Rooms Lane, Morley.
Now detectives are hunting the gang and have appealed for anyone who saw the initial theft of the Mitsubishi, witnessed the robbery itself or the Mitsubishi being dumped in Parkway, Gildersome, and the raiders switching vehicles.
They would also like to hear from anyone who saw parts of the ATM being dumped in Rooms Lane.
Anyone with information should contact Det Con Damian Hunt at Holbeck by dialling 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymoulsy