Two men have been arrested and a large amount of cash and power tools seized following thefts from cash machines in Chorley and Preston.
One ATM theft was reported to Lancashire Police on May 5th and occurred at a premises on Spendmore Lane in Coppull, while a second theft was reported in the early hours of Sunday (May 14th), after a premises on Watling Street Road, Preston, was targeted.
On Monday, at around 10.50pm, a vehicle believed to be connected to the thefts was spotted by police officers on patrol in the Ribbleton Lane area.
It was stopped and searched which turned up a rucksack containing power tools, a bank card and other items including gaffer tape and a crowbar.
A further £4,500 in cash was found during a subsequent search of two addresses in the Fishwick and Ribbleton areas.
Two men, aged 29 and 31 from Preston, were arrested at the scene on suspicion of going equipped for theft and remained in custody the next day.
Superintendent Hassan Khan, of Lancashire Police’s Specialist Operations team, said: “A car suspected of being connected to ATM thefts was stopped last night and searched, along with two nearby addresses. The searches turned up items including power tools and a large amount of cash.
“Two people were arrested and remain in custody today while our enquiries are ongoing.
“These arrests send a message to those involved in organised crime that they are not welcome in Lancashire. We take all incidents of this nature seriously and will not stop investigating and disrupting this type of activity.
“However, we rely on information from our communities and ask that you share anything you know. You can call us on 101 or you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.”
