A Newmarket shopping centre suffered extensive damage after it was targeted by ram-raiders who stole an ATM.
The incident took place at the Guineas Shopping Centre in the town centre shortly before midnight on Easter Monday when a stolen Land Rover Discovery was driven into the arcade.
Severe damage was caused to the entrance doors and some shop fronts in the process of removing the ATM.
The offenders abandoned the Land Rover at the scene before making off in a second vehicle – believed to be a black Audi S6 – taking the ATM with them.
It is believed the number plates attached to the Audi had been stolen earlier the same evening from a white Vauxhall Combo van which was parked at a business park in Risby, near Bury St Edmunds.
The Land Rover is believed to have been stolen from a garage in Bury St Edmunds, also earlier that same evening.
Forensic examination of the shopping centre, which houses stores such as Argos, Costa, and Marks and Spencer, took place yesterday morning.
A number of shops at the centre were not able to open at 8am yesterday and access to the precinct was affected while police conducted their investigation.
The incident is the latest in a long list of ram raid attacks which have taken place across Suffolk and Essex over the past 18 months.
A number of Co-ops and convenience stores have been targeted and three arrests have been made by Suffolk police in connection with incidents.
A 24-year-old man from the Dunstable area was arrested in January on suspicion of burglary in connection with a ram-raid in Long Melford.
He was interviewed at Luton Police Station and has been released under investigation pending further enquiries.
In February, a 29-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, both from the Maldon area of Essex, were arrested on suspicion of burglary in connection with five recent ram raids. The pair were questioned and have also since been released under investigation.
Newmarket mayor Andy Drummond said: “It’s a shame it has happened only a week after our new combined police and fire station opened in the town. I have seen a heightened visibility of police in the town this past week. It’s disappointing but hopefully they will catch them.”
Anyone with any information is asked to call Suffolk police on 101, quoting reference SC-02042018-462.
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