Moment thieves use forklift to tear apart cash machine from funeral director's building on high street
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By CAITLIN LENG
Published: | Updated:
This is the moment thieves used a forklift to tear apart a cash machine from a funeral director's building on a high street.
Footage of the incident, which occurred on Thursday morning at Halstead High Street in Essex, shows a Matbro digger being used to repeatedly smash into the building, which housed an ATM.
After creating a gaping hole in the funeral home, a group of men were then captured trying to retrieve the machine before an ambulance arrived at the scene.
Emergency services were called to the high street at around 1.50am following reports of the incident, where one vehicle used in the incident was found.
No arrests have been made at this time, but police have confirmed several witnesses have been spoken to.
Craig Collier, chief operating officer at Daniel Robinson & Sons funeral home, described being awoken to a call informing him the business had been targeted.
Mr Collier said the incident made so much noise he believes 'half the street woke up'.
Thieves were captured using a forklift to tear apart a cash machine from a funeral director's building on an Essex high street
Footage of the incident shows a Matbro digger being used to repeatedly smash into the building, which housed an ATM
The forklift was used to create a gaping hole in the funeral home
'I have come across cash machine attacks before, but not by funeral homes,' he told The Telegraph. 'I was thinking what part of the building is it and the proximity to the deceased?
'If there is a breach in the wall, we need to start moving the deceased off site and contacting the families. That was what was going through my head.'
A spokesperson for the business said the funeral home itself is a separate building and is 'undamaged and operating as normal'.
They said: 'As a local family business, we understand the impact this theft has had on the local community in the total loss of the cashpoint, a vital piece of local infrastructure and disruption to the flow of traffic and pedestrians.
'There has also been damage to local phone and internet cables potentially affecting business and domestic services.
'We are working tirelessly to remove the debris and free up the highway and apologise for any inconvenience whilst temporary repairs and the subsequent full repair take place and ask for everyone's continued support and understanding.'
Essex Police has since urged anyone with further information, CCTV, dashcam or other footage to 'please come forward'.
Reports can be made via the Essex Police website or through the online Live Chat service available 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Anyone contacting police should quote incident 84 of September 10.
Anonymous reports can also be made to Crimestoppers by visiting their website or calling 0800 555 111.
A spokesperson for the force said: 'We have spoken to a number of people who witnessed the incident and we would encourage anyone with information who hasn't spoken to us yet to please come forward.'
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