Raiders tried to drag a cashpoint machine out of a Nantwich store after ramming the front with a land rover.
The crooks attached a heavy-duty 20ft chain to the machine in the Stapeley Co-operative store on Cronkinson estate.
They then tried to pull the cashpoint through the frontage, but appear to have abandoned the raid as the machine became embedded in the wreckage.
Bollards and metal railings outside the store may also have prevented them. The vehicle was later found dumped on London Road.
Cheshire Police forensics teams and Co-operative Store workers are on the scene this morning, with part of the parade of shops cordoned off.
The chain they used remains on the scene, as stunned shoppers arrived and looked on unable to get in the store.
A Co-operative employee at the scene said the store is likely to be closed all day and possibly until tomorrow morning (Tuesday April 14).
Other stores on the small parade of shops are open.
It’s not known at this stage whether criminals managed to steal any cash from the machine.
However, one employee said the front of the machine is visible in the wreckage and that the area where the money is stored appeared to be intact.
One employee in the nearby launderette said: “We didn’t know anything until we turned up this morning and saw the wreckage. I can’t believe it!
“I’ve worked here a while and we’ve had nothing like this happen before. They’ve obviously tried to drag the whole thing through the window.
“I’ve also heard the vehicle they used has been dumped up on London Road, but I don’t know if that’s true.”
Detectives believe the raid happened at about 2am, when offenders broke into the store by ramming the front entrance with a green Land Rover.
They left the scene empty-handed. The Land Rover was later found abandoned on London Road, Nantwich.
Detective Sergeant Richard Johnson, from Crewe CID, said: “We are currently following a number of lines of enquiry, and I would like to appeal to anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident and believes they may have seen anything suspicious to contact Cheshire Police.
“I would also like to appeal to anyone who believes they may have seen the green Land Rover travelling in the Nantwich area, both before and after the incident.”
A spokesman for Co-operative Stores told Nantwichnews: “We can confirm a raid took place at our Stapeley store which is now in the hands of the police.
“It happened some time between 10pm on Sunday when it was closed for the day and 5am this morning, when our store manager arrived on site.
“We don’t know much than that. The site is currently closed and we cannot say at this stage when it will be re-opened as we are in the hands of the police.
“We would appeal though for anyone who has information on this to come forward to the police.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Cheshire Police on 101 quoting Incident number 54 of 13/4/2015. Alternatively information can also be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
I have heard of cash and grab, but crash and grab how stupid!
Not the brightest or best prepared thieves it seems.
From personal experience, I doubt Cheshire Police will catch anything more than a cold!