A gang of ATM thieves - spotted by PSNI officers leaving the scene of a smash and grab attack in Ballymena - managed to get away despite being chased by a police patrol.
Two ATM machines were recovered after being abandoned by the thieves on the Woodside Road in Co Antrim. They were removed by police for forensic examination.
Police were alerted to the theft at a Tesco store on the Larne Link Road in Ballymena at around 3am yesterday.
A police patrol spotted the ATMs being driven away from the area on the back of a pick-up type vehicle and followed the thieves who abandoned the vehicle and the cash machines.
A tractor and digger used to remove the cash machines were set alight at supermarket, while believed to have been stolen. Police said they had no report of any thefts and think they may have been removed undetected from a building site that was closed for the Easter holidays.
It brings to 12 the number of cash machines stolen so far this year in ten separate incidents. Two further machines were stolen in counties Monaghan and Cavan earlier this year.
Last week, a digger was used to rip two machines from the wall of a Tesco outlet in Crumlin, Co Antrim.
Thieves also made an unsuccessful attempt to steal an ATM from a Costcutter shop in Craigavon.
Earlier this month, a cash machine was ripped from the wall of a petrol station in Dungiven, Co Tyrone.
A specialist PSNI taskforce group has been set up to tackle the crisis but police have said it is difficult to keep track of every machine, only one arrest has been made and to date there has been no one charged in connection with the thefts.
Detective Chief Inspector David Henderson said the recovered ATMs "will now be examined for any forensic evidence they might yield".
"On this occasion the quick response of the police patrol was able to force the thieves to abandon their vehicles and the ATMs and they have fled empty-handed", he said.
"It is likely that the digger and tractor involved were stolen however no reports of such machinery being stolen have been received as yet.
"I want to reassure the public that we continue to do everything that we can to try stop these attacks and catch those responsible.
"We have dedicated an increased the amount of resources to tackling this issue including actively patrolling ATM sites day and night.
"However, the reality is that these attacks are carried out across a wide geographical area and we cannot be present at every ATM location all of the time.
"We really need the public to help us and report anything suspicious, as a number of people did in Ballymena".
North Antrim MLA Mervyn Storey has said that efforts "must be stepped up against those involved".
"Whilst everyone understands that it is not possible for the PSNI to stand guard at every ATM machine, the number of incidents must demand more significant action," he added.
Sinn Féin councillor Patrice Hardy said it was the third such robbery in north Antrim in as many weeks.
"I would call on the public to remain vigilant particularly in regard to the movement of heavy machinery at night and to report anything suspicious.
"I would urge anyone with any information to bring it forward to the PSNI to help catch those responsible," she added.
Ulster Unionist councillor Stephen Nicholl said the community "has been inconvenienced" by the organised criminal gangs "raiding, seemingly at will, across Northern Ireland".
"Not only are we losing the ATM's in areas where they have been stolen but we are also seeing the gradual withdrawal of services elsewhere as ATM's are not being replenished or having limited cash restocked."
