A shopkeeper has told how he was woken at 2am yesterday morning by a masked gang trying to steal his cash machine.

David Basdian, 28, who lives above Copthorne Village Stores, in Copthorne Bank, near Crawley, with his wife Sivapiriya, 21, and their children, was woken by a loud bang.

When he looked out of the window he saw a gang of masked thieves trying to wrench the cash machine from the front of the shop using a chain attached to a Land Rover.

He said: "I saw three or four people in a dark blue Land Rover but I could not see their faces because they were wearing balaclavas."

He said: "My wife and I and my children were asleep when we were woken by a big bang.

"Then we heard another bang, the same sound, so I looked out of the window and on to the road.

"I saw the Land Rover and what looked like a chain or a cable attached to the cash machine and they tried for about five or six minutes to pull it out.

"The top of the machine came out but that was it."

Mr Basdian, who has run the grocery store for two-and-a-half years, said he did not confront the thieves because he thought they might be dangerous.

Neighbours called the police and the fire brigade.

Mr Basdian said: "I told my family that everything was okay because lots of people had called the police.

"We have a strong shutter and strong window at the front of the shop which is probably why they could not take anything.

"About four months ago one of our windows was broken but that was just kids and they did not take anything."

The shop is open from 6am until 10pm daily, apart from Sunday when it closes at 9pm.

Sussex Police said several men were involved in the attempted robbery using what may have been two 4x4 vehicles.

Stealing a cash machine is a notoriously difficult crime to pull off.

In July, The Argus reported that a gang trying to steal a village store's cash machine were foiled when their noisy antics disturbed a neighbour's card game.

The bungling thieves reversed a Citroen Picasso in to the front of Sussex Village Stores in Newick, near Lewes, at about 2am on a Thursday.

But the thieves left the main part of the machine containing the money inside after they were interrupted by next door neighbour Ian Whittle.

The car was found abandoned, with the top part of the cash machine still attached to the rear, almost a mile away along the A272 towards Haywards Heath.

Anyone with information on the latest attempted theft is asked to contact Detective Constable Dave Morton at Haywards Heath CID on 0845 6070999, quoting serial number 103 of October 10, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.