Co-op stores raided in Isleham and Clare overnight

Police are linking the attack to two others in Suffolk earlier this week

Thieves used sledgehammers to break into two Co-op stores in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire last night, police said.

A gang of up to five men in balaclavas forced their way into one shop - in Isleham, near Ely - at about 23:25 GMT, stealing cigarettes.

At 01:40 GMT, a store in Market Hill, Clare, was targeted in the same way, it was revealed.

Police say they're also not ruling out a link with attacks on two other Co-op stores in Suffolk on Sunday.

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The Clare store was targeted before in 2016, when thieves used a digger to pull a cash machine from the wall.

It's not known whether the same gang was also involved in three failed cash machine raids at convenience stores across Suffolk and Cambridgeshire in January.

Det Ch Insp Nick Power, of Suffolk Police, said the same methods were used in the three attacks this week.

"We are connecting the offence in Clare with the two that took place earlier in the week," he said.

"The one in Hopton on Sunday night at 23:20 GMT, and then at the Co-op in Great Cornard at 00:40 GMT are all very similar. They had forced their way in using varying implements, sledgehammers.

"A high-powered Audi car was seen to leave the area."

Sledgehammers were used to break in to the shop in Clare, Suffolk, last night

A spokesman for the Co-op Group said it was too early to confirm when the shop in Clare would reopen.

"The Co-op takes retail crime very seriously," he said, "with safety and security of utmost importance.

"We work closely with police and other crime prevention bodies to implement a range of measures designed to deter and disrupt criminal activity, and increase the likelihood of convictions."