RAMRAIDERS have stolen thousands of pounds in a raid on an Ipswich store.The shop front was destroyed in the raid, which saw a van used to rip a cash point from a wall.

RAMRAIDERS have stolen thousands of pounds in a raid on an Ipswich store.

The shop front was destroyed in the raid, which saw a van used to rip a cash point from a wall.

Eyewitnesses have reported seeing three vehicles arrive at the Spar convenience store, in Reynolds Road, and a chain used to tie the cash point to a van which then ripped it out of the shop.

Police were called at about 2.40am to Reynolds Road after a member of the public reported seeing the shop being burgled.

A Toyota pick up truck had been reversed through the window of the Spar Shop. After loading the machine onto a second vehicle, that and another car were driven along Nacton Road towards the A14.

It is understood there were between five and six offenders and the Toyota Hilux pick up was abandoned at the scene.

The road was sealed off early today while investigations were carried out into the incident.

Spar shop manager Ruben Murugaiyah told how he and his pregnant wife watched in horror as the raid unfolded.

"They smashed the front door about three times, put a chain on, tied it up and pulled it away," he said.

"They put the vehicle inside the shop and then chained up the cash machine and pulled it out."

Mr Murugaiyah, who has been in Ipswich for just one month after moving from Chelsea, in London, said he lives above the shop and watched the scene unfold from an upstairs window.

Too terrified to intervene, he called police and said they arrived on the scene just seconds after the raiders had left. It is believed the cash machine could have contained up to three thousands pounds.

"I was shaking and I didn't know what to do," he said.

"It all happened within five minutes."

Today's raid was the second time in the space of three months that a business in the road has been hit.

At about 3.30am on November 4, a green Isuzu Trooper was reversed into the One-Stop shop, in Reynolds Road.

Four or five men wearing balaclavas were seen leaving the area in two vehicles. It is not thought anything was stolen from the shop.

The area is currently subject to a dispersal order following a number of incidents of disorder over a period of several months.

Spar shop worker Debbie Garwood said she was fed up with the constant trouble in Reynolds Road.

"I am gutted, for the shop and for the new people," she said.

"They're trying their best but now we have all this. It is always night time when the trouble starts."

Neighbour Cara Steel said this raid was just the latest to bring misery to the troubled area.

"I got burgled myself on New Years Eve, you live with it round here. It is horrible and I can't wait to move away."

The mother of four said she had been left frightened and upset by both this raid and the previous one in November.

"I feel scared today, you shouldn't have to wake up and see this has happened and that one of the shops has been done again.

"It is beyond a joke now."

Police would like to hear from anyone who witnessed this incident. Calls should be made to Ipswich CID on 01473 613500 or crime stoppers on 0800 555 111.