BUNGLING thieves were left empty-handed after trying unsuccessfully to break into a Tesco Express store in Trowbridge.
They tried and failed to gain entry to the convenience store in Eastbourne Road in the early hours of Friday (December 1).
A Wiltshire Police spokesperson said: “We are appealing for information following an incident of criminal damage.
“Between approximately 1.50am and 3am on December 1, the cash machine at Tesco Express in Eastbourne Road was smashed. The shop window and door were also smashed during the incident.
“Anyone with information should call 101 and quote crime reference number 54230128093."
A Tesco spokesperson said: “It happened in the early hours of Friday at around 2.55am. They smashed the ATM and the doors and windows around the store.
“But they could not get through and nothing was stolen. There’s just damage.”
The raid is the second on a Tesco Express store in Trowbridge in the past five months and comes in the wake of a recent attempted burglary at a Tesco Express store in Warminster.
Police were called to the Tesco Express in Thornhill Road, Warminster, at approximately 12.40am on Monday, November 6 following an alarm activation at the store.
Offenders seen at the rear of the store threatened officers and damaged a police vehicle before making off at speed in a black Audi towards Masefield Road.
Police pursued the would-be thieves but lost their vehicle before they could be apprehended. Enquiries are currently ongoing.
Det Insp Darren Ambrose, of the Wiltshire Police Burglary Unit, said: “We would urge anyone who may have seen or heard suspicious activity in the area, or anyone with dash cam, CCTV or doorbell footage from the local area to get in touch immediately.”
If you can help, call 101 and quote crime reference number 54230117242. Alternatively, call CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Meanwhile, three people have been charged and remanded for conspiracy to burgle in an investigation led by West Midlands Police.
The charges follow a smash-and-grab raid on the Tesco Express store cashpoint machine in Brook Road, Trowbridge, on Thursday, August 10.
The raid took place in the early hours of the morning. How much cash was taken from the ATM outside the Broadmead store is unknown.
Police cordoned off the store for several hours while crime scene investigations took place.
In January, thieves also targeted the Diamond News Post Office and Newsagents in St Thomas Road, Trowbridge, run by Kathy and Bill Wyllie.
The bungling thieves were left empty-handed after smashing the front window of the post office and shop in the early hours of Wednesday, January 11.
They threw a concrete block at the large window of the Diamond News store in the hope of gaining entry to steal cash, tobacco, and alcohol.
But the local post office and convenience store doesn’t sell these items and the cash was locked securely in a safe bolted firmly to the floor.
The crime reference number for that incident is 54230003411.
Wiltshire Police said: "Enquiries were completed on this one; however, if further information comes to light we will pursue the lines of enquiry."
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