Ram raiders smashed a stolen 4x4 through the doors of a supermarket in a bid to steal a cash machine.

Eastern Daily Press: The scene at Co-op in Rickinghall. Picture: Marc BettsThe scene at Co-op in Rickinghall. Picture: Marc Betts (Image: Archant)

They fled empty-handed from the Co-op store in Rickinghall, near Diss, at around 2am this morning.

The raid is the latest in a string of similar attacks across Norfolk and Suffolk.

The store was closed off yesterday, as police carried out forensic investigations at the scene.

One woman living nearby told how she was woken by the car being driven into the shop.

Eastern Daily Press: The scene at Co-op in Rickinghall. Picture: Marc BettsThe scene at Co-op in Rickinghall. Picture: Marc Betts (Image: Archant)

'We heard lots of shouting and the crashing noise from a car,' she said. 'It woke us at about 1.50am but all you could here was people shouting with loads of banging noises.

'It was the middle of the night and a few times at the weekend there may be people walking down the street so I assumed it was somebody making a lot of noise.

'It took me a bit of time to realise that the noise was actually coming from the shop.'

Police said the three-strong gang reversed a Mistsubishi L200 through the main entrance of the store, off The Street.

Eastern Daily Press: The scene at Co-op in Rickinghall. Picture: Marc BettsThe scene at Co-op in Rickinghall. Picture: Marc Betts (Image: Archant)

After failing to remove the cash machine, the trio sped off towards the A140 in a silver BMW X5.

Officers arrived shortly afterwards and began searching the local area, assisted by a National Police Air Service helicopter, but the offenders were not located.

The Mitsubishi used to ram the building was left behind at the scene. Officers say it was stolen from an address in nearby Hopton on the same night

The BMW X5 was stolen following a burglary at a property in Acton near Sudbury, between Thursday, November 16 and Saturday, December 2.

Police are investigating whether the raid may have been carried out by the same gang behind a string of cashpoint raids across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.

They include Wells, Burnham and Bellflower Crescent.

A spokesman for Central England Co-operative said: 'We are aiming to have the store open again for trading in the morning.'

Anyone with information should contact Suffolk police on 101.