Gang digs 50ft tunnel to steal cash machine

“Every little helps” says the sign at Tesco where a gang spent months digging a 50ft tunnel to help themselves to the shop’s cash machine.

Spurning the traditional bank robbers’ tools of balaclava and sawn-off shotgun for the shovel and pick, detectives say the complex tunnel structure would have taken serious planning and weeks of laborious digging to carry out the raid in Salford, Greater Manchester.

And police have not ruled out linking this latest tunnel raid to two others in the area by the raiders, dubbed the Mole in the Wall gang.

Last Friday morning, staff opened the shop on Liverpool Road to peer into a hole in the ground where the gang had broken in.

At the other end of the tunnel, 50ft (15m) across wasteland, was where they made their escape — with cash boxes containing a “substantial” sum of money.

Police have appealed to the public who may have seen people acting suspiciously and “possibly covered in soil”.

Detective Superintendent Mark Toker, said: “These people had obviously spent a long time plotting this crime and I doubt they would have been able to keep their plans secret for all that time, without telling others about their elaborate scheme.

“The offenders must have spent long periods of time in the area over the last few months, which people may have noticed. You may have seen people acting suspiciously on Friday night, possibly covered in soil.

“I would ask anyone with any information about the robbery to call us as soon as possible,” he said.

At the scene there was no police tape to mark the spot where the gang began their marathon dig — only a sign at the shop to say the cash machine was not in use.

Several passersby broke into smiles of sheer admiration for the gang’s audacity.