Ram-raiders demolished the front of a bank with a digger and stole up to £30,000 from a cash machine.

The gang ripped the machine from the wall and smashed it open before dumping the digger in a dawn raid.

Bank managers were today offering a reward of up to £15,000 to catch the thieves who destroyed the entire front of the HSBC Bank in High Street, Steyning, and detectives were continuing to investigate a link with similar crimes in Kent.

Detective Inspector David McCullough, of Sussex Police, said: "They just used brute force."

The raiders, believed to be two men, targeted the bank in the sleepy village at about 4am on Saturday.

They stole the digger from a construction site at nearby Steyning Grammar School and used the vehicle's bucket to rip out the cash machine.

They loaded the remains of the machine onto a red flatbed truck parked nearby and left the digger with its engine running in the street.

Mr McCullough said: "There was not enough time to set up road blocks at that time of the morning and we initially had no idea of direction.

"We have been liaising with Kent Police where there have been similar ram-raids of ATMs being ripped from banks, including one in Tunbridge Wells in March."

Ram Thapa, 24, who lives above Saxons Indian restaurant in High Street, witnessed the raid.

He said: "I was going to bed after watching a film and I heard what sounded like a tractor. I looked out of my window and saw it turn to face the bank.

"It smashed into the bank, lifted out the cash machine and then loaded it on to a lorry which had been parked a little way from the bank.

"One man then jumped down from the digger before sitting in the lorry, which was driven off by another man. The digger was left in the road with the engine running.

"I could not believe what I had seen. People then came out into the street.

"Police arrived within five minutes and cordoned off the road."

High Street was cordoned off for most of Saturday while police and HSBC bank officials surveyed the scene.

Shopkeepers and residents said it was unusual for such a raid to take place in the village, which has a low crime rate.

Nicky Marler, who works in the Country House store opposite the bank, said: "We arrived to find a JCB outside our shop and rubble in the middle of the road. We were very surprised to find out what had happened. Things like this do not happen in Steyning."

Chris Bason, who owns Chanctonbury Butchers, said: "I got to my shop at 5.30am and found police everywhere. I think people are almost finding it humorous because you don't expect this to happen in Steyning.

"I don't think people will see it as a trend. It's a one-off thing and we can all go back to normal."

John and Sue Kimber, who run Steyning Stationers, moved from Surbiton ten months ago because they were fed up of the level of crime there.

Mr Kimber said: "It's quite ironic because we came here to get away from crime. We thought this was a nice peaceful place to live and then this happens.

"It's quite surprising and I can't understand the nerve of them. The scary thing is you look at the damage done and there were people living above the shops. If they are prepared to do that then they are not bothered about anyone getting hurt."

HSBC is a member of the rewards scheme run by the British Bankers Association which pays up to £15,000 to any member of the public who provides information leading to the conviction of people involved in serious crimes against the bank.

Anyone with information should call Sussex Police on 0845 6070999.