A gang used a JCB digger to carry out an “unbelievable” smash and grab raid on an ATM machine in the early hours of this morning.

At least three men are thought to have driven the construction vehicle up to the Barclay’s cash point, next to the Currency Exchange Corporation shop in Bramley Road, at about 3am.

The audacious thieves used the digger’s large front scoop to smash into the brick wall surrounding the unit before making an unsuccessful attempt to pull it out.

Manager at the currency exchange shop, Bryan Costa, said: “It is unbelievable. It is a total mess. You wouldn’t believe there was an ATM there before.”

The JCB was driven from across the road, through thick bushes and over a wooden fence, moments before the gang struck.

Mr Costa added: “It looks like it was very well planned, perhaps the work of some organised gang. Oakwood is becoming more like Miami but without the sun.

“I have seen similar attempts like this before but nothing compared to this – it’s the kind of thing you see in the Wild West.”

Police were alerted to the raid by the machine’s alarms soon after the attack took place.

The currency exchange remains open today but the shop suffered damage to its brickwork and windows, while the small room behind the ATM has been “completely destroyed”.

The incident is the latest in a number of attempted break-ins at shops along the Bramley Road parade.

Mr Costa said his own premises had been subject to at least two ram raid attempts in the past two years.

Mr Costa said: “It makes you wonder what is going on in this area. It is a quiet, common, decent area but in the last two years or so this sort of this has been happening.”

Ram raid at ATM