Richhill: Stolen digger used in cash machine theft

The cash machine was stolen from a filling station in Richhill

A digger was stolen and then used to rip out a cash machine from a filling station in County Armagh, police have said.

The theft took place on the Portadown Road, Richhill, about 04:45 on Tuesday, causing substantial damage to the building.

The digger had been set on fire by the time police arrived and the blaze put out by the fire service.

Shop owner Philip Woods spoke of his "complete shock" at the attack.

"It's devastating. There's 100 people employed here, we serve a local community," he said.

"We'll get by, we'll fix what's here; it's bricks and mortar. That can be put right, but the service to the local community is what's going to be impacted in the mouth of Christmas."

Police say the digger had been stolen from a site a short distance away.

Mr Woods said it was the second time in two years ago that cash machine had been targeted.

BBC News NI's Kevin Sharkey at the scene:

Police believe the digger used in the attack was stolen from a nearby building site

The impact of the early morning attack and theft is clear to see at the side of the service station.

The stand-alone building where the ATM had been installed is completely destroyed.

Repair work will take time and it will be costly.

More immediately, the community and commuters have lost a valuable financial service in Christmas week.

Two men were "observed wearing dark clothing as they placed the ATM into a trailer and then set fire to the digger before leaving in a white van towards the Portadown Road", police said.

"We have since recovered the van, trailer and ATM on the Moy Road and a full investigation is now under way to determine the circumstances surrounding this theft."

DUP MLA William Irwin said the theft had robbed the community of its main cash machine.

"It's a very busy shopping centre here. A lot of people will be looking for cash and I'm quite sure there was a sizeable amount of cash in this machine coming up to Christmas," he said.

Police are appealing for information.

"In particular, I am appealing to anyone who saw a white van towing a trailer in the Portadown Road and Moy Road areas to get in touch with detectives by calling 101, quoting reference 183 of 20/12/22," said the spokesperson.