High Street, Chatteris, remains closed today following an early morning ram raid as thieves attempted to steal an ATM from the post office.
One eye witness said: 'I live opposite Lloyd's chemist, so I could see the vehicle tethered to something and trying to drag it from the shops.
'It was so noisy, with revving engines and what sounded like an industrial power tool plus lots of squealing tyres and shouting.'
One man who lives on High Street said 'I can verify that they had a very good try – the racket the made was extraordinary.
'Every resident from that part of the High Street must have been watching them in the end because we certainly couldn't get any sleep - hardly master criminals.'
Steve Nicholson said: 'This is so upsetting. The people who run the post office are the nicest people, would help anyone.
'I hope the culprits are caught. This is totally unacceptable.'
The attempted break in with a teleporter style agricultural vehicle is thought to have happened at around 4am
Neighbours say it looks as if they raiders managed to drag the ATM safe to the pavement but for some reason were unable to remove it.
A Cambridgeshire police spokesman said: 'We were called at around 4.10am to reports of an attempted robbery at a Post Office in High Street, Chatteris.
'The offenders attempted to remove an ATM machine from the front of the building but were unsuccessful and fled the scene.
'Anyone with information about the incident should contact the police on 101 quoting crime number CF0227870417.'
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