Co-op in Bosham near Chichester ram-raided and ATM stolen

The group of around "four or five men" took around 20 minutes to smash through the security barriers of the store with a forklift truck.

The burglary happened at around 3am this morning in Station Road, Bosham, near Chichester.

One witness described the sound of “metal crunching” as the forklift truck continuously smashed into the shop.

An ATM was stolen from the the Co-op (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

The ATM was yanked out of the Co-op with a chain before being shoved into a blue pickup truck which sped away.

The witness, who wished not to be named, said: “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before in my life, I just couldn’t believe it. The noise was just another level, the sound of metal crunching.

"We thought it was a gritter lorry and looked out the front window and we saw this JCB just going forward and backwards smashing into the Co-op.

“There was people shouting, all I could hear was an Irish accent and an alarm going off. Then three vehicles turned up.

The front of the store (Image: Eddie Mitchell)

“We called the police and they said they had numerous calls. It was 20 minutes the incident went on for but felt like hours.

“They got the ATM and there was a massive crash as they dropped it into one of the vehicles then sped off. Then about two minutes later, the police sped after them.

“One of the men was rounding them up, they were like an army. He was bellowing over the sound of the JCB and the alarm.

Police road closure (Image: Eddie Mitchell)

“I think it was about four or five men.

“They had a big chain, you could hear them connecting it up to the ATM. There was so much noise, I have never experienced anything like it.

“The forklift truck can’t have been from far away, they go about five miles per hour. They all sped off, it was definitely organised.”

The blue pickup truck used to take the ATM away was found abandoned in Sheepwash Lane in East Lavant.

Sussex Police say three men loaded the ATM into the pickup truck.

An unknown quantity of cash has been stolen.

No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.

Anyone with relevant information or footage can report online, or by calling 101, quoting serial 161 of 24/09.