Ram-raiders who targeted a bank cashpoint escaped with £88,000, it has been revealed.

The gang struck at 2am on Sunday at Barclays in High Street, Henfield.

Police believe at least three people were involved. They used a yellow JCB hydraulic digger to pull out the cashpoint and loaded it into a black Nissan Navara 4x4 pick-up truck.

The JCB was stolen from Edburton about an hour earlier.

It was abandoned in the middle of High Street.

Police have discovered that before the raid, the gang stopped to remove the bucket from the JCB in Bramlands Lane, Henfield. This was at 1.25am and took about 20 minutes.

The raiders went to Oakendon Woods, Dunsfold, at about 2.45am where they dumped the cashpoint and the pick-up truck.

Police believe they left in a grey Audi A6 estate car shortly before 4am.

They were confronted by a person whose vehicle was rammed by the Audi.

It is thought one had made off from the bank on foot, the others in the Navara. Detective Sergeant Kieran McDonald said: “We are investigating this ram raid and linked criminality. We are immensely grateful to the local community for assisting us in our enquires.

“We wish to speak to anyone who witnessed the event or who saw any activity at the stated locations.

“We would also appreciate it if people could review any CCTV recordings in the described areas and if they find any significant material, to contact us.

“We are very interested to hear about any vehicles that appeared to be in convoy with the Navara.”

A man, 25, from Henfield has been arrested on suspicion of burglary and released under investigation.

A spokeswoman from Barclays Bank said: “We can confirm an incident took place and it is subject to police investigation.

“Employees at the branch have been moved to the nearest branches in Horsham and Burgess Hill where they will work there until the branch re-opens.

“Thieves have used various ways to try to pull out the cash machines and sometimes they leave a huge mess behind.

“We are unable to confirm when the branch will open again, but we endeavour to re-open this branch as soon as we can.

“As there is quite a bit of work to do, we need to assess the structure of the building and to make the building safe again.”