A digger on the high street

Footage from Halstead High Street in Essex shows a Matbro digger being driven straight into a building, again and again, to get at the cash machine inside.

Ten to two in the morning

Emergency services were called to the high street at around 1.50am on Thursday, after reports came in of a vehicle being used to smash into the building.

The ATM was the point

The building the thieves attacked belongs to Daniel Robinson & Sons funeral directors, and it housed a cashpoint. That machine was what they came for.

A hole in the wall

The repeated hits tore an opening in the frontage. What was left was a gaping hole where the wall and the machine had been.

Caught on camera grabbing

After the wall came apart, a group of men were filmed trying to haul the machine out. They were still at it when an ambulance turned up at the scene.

One vehicle left behind

When officers arrived, they found one of the vehicles used in the raid still on the high street. The thieves did not take everything with them.

Nobody in custody

No arrests have been made so far. Police have confirmed they have already spoken to several people who saw what happened.

Half the street woke up

Craig Collier, chief operating officer at the funeral home, was woken by a phone call telling him the business had been hit. He reckons the noise roused the neighbourhood.

“half the street woke up”

He had seen this before

Collier is no stranger to cash machine raids. What threw him was where this one happened.

“I have come across cash machine attacks before, but not by funeral homes.”

His first thought was the bodies

On the phone in the middle of the night, Collier was trying to work out exactly which part of the site had been hit and what was on the other side of that wall.

“I was thinking what part of the building is it and the proximity to the deceased?”

The plan if the wall broke

A breach would have meant an emergency move, taking the deceased to another site and then ringing every family involved to tell them.

“If there is a breach in the wall, we need to start moving the deceased off site and contacting the families.”

The funeral home was spared

A spokesperson for the business confirmed the funeral home is a separate building. It was undamaged and carried on operating as normal.

The town lost its cashpoint

The business, a local family firm, called the loss of the machine a blow to the whole community rather than just to itself.

“a vital piece of local infrastructure”

Phone and internet cut too

The damage went past brick and metal. Cables serving nearby homes and businesses were hit in the raid.

“There has also been damage to local phone and internet cables potentially affecting business and domestic services.”

Debris across the road

Traffic and pedestrians were disrupted while rubble sat on the high street. The firm apologised for the mess and asked for patience.

“We are working tirelessly to remove the debris and free up the highway”

Temporary, then a full fix

Repairs come in two stages. Something quick to make the site safe, then the proper rebuild afterwards.

Police want your footage

Essex Police are asking for CCTV, dashcam or any other video. Report through their website or 24/7 Live Chat, quoting incident 84 of September 10.

“We have spoken to a number of people who witnessed the incident”

Or say nothing at all

Anyone who would rather stay anonymous can go through Crimestoppers, online or on 0800 555 111.