Cash machine stolen in ram raid

The mechanical digger was left at the scene by the ram raiders

Ram raiders have struck in Kent for a second time in two days.

A gang used a mechanical digger to break into the front of the Co-Op store in Istead Rise, near Gravesend, at 0300 BST on Sunday.

Police said the vehicle was left at the scene after the robbers successfully removed the shop's cash machine from inside the premises.

It had been taken from a complex in New Barn Road, just off the A2, and driven two miles across fields.

Eye witness Bob Harden, who lives nearby, could not believe what he was seeing.

'Shell-shocked'

"It woke me up and happened so quickly.

"It probably took about three minutes between when the digger came in and they were gone.

"You're a little bit shell-shocked - you can't believe what you are seeing," he said.

On Saturday, raiders used two vehicles to smash their way through the front of an Alldays supermarket in Marden, but they failed to steal the ATM.

Detectives said it was too early to say if both incidents were linked.