A hole-in-the-wall gang that targeted ATMs in Kent and the south-east lived up to its name... leaving just behind just holes in walls.

The five-strong team hit SEVEN machines in three weeks in a bid to snatch hundreds of thousands of pounds - but managed to steal not a single penny.

Instead, the gang failed to break into any of the machines despite using top-of-the range industrial power tools.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how the luckless raiders:

*Set cash on FIRE using a blow torch

*TRIGGERED an alarm by burning through wires

*MISSED out on £140,000, which was left untouched inside one of the ATMs

*Allowed one of their 'look outs' to use her MUM'S car on the raids while she whinged about not getting petrol money

Now the gang - which included a man from Dartford - has received jail terms of up to five years for their part in the failed attacks.

But Dominic Connolly, prosecuting, revealed they were not the only people who made mistakes.

Gang leader James Whitlock, 27, who was serving a 33-month jail sentence was WRONGLY transferred to a low-security prison and did a runner.

He and Glen Farlam, 30, of Osbourne Road, Dartford, then teamed up to carry out a failed burglary in Dudley in the West Midlands.

By August 2010, Whitlock, Farlam, 20-year-old Damien Kidley, his lover Nicole Rosman, 40, and Frankie May, 27, teamed up to carry out raids in Kent, Sussex and Bedfordshire.

Mr Connolly said: "These defendants were part of a team that, over a period of three weeks, travelled to various locations in the south east of England in order to attack commercial premises that housed ATMs in order to steal the contents.

"However, despite their extensive efforts no money was actually obtained."

He said a sledge hammer was used to dislodge bricks housing the machines and industrial tools were then employed to burn into the machines.

However, even before their first attack, Farlam and another man had been stopped by suspicious police officers in Hawley Road, Dartford.

In the back of their white transit van were tools - but Farlam convinced officers he was returning to his then home address in Oakley Drive, New Eltham.

The gang was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court

The Tesco service station in Moatfield Meadow, Ashford, was targeted on September 6. The night manager heard three alarms and when he investigated discovered a fire extinguisher, broken bricks and the ATM singed, but unopened.

Just two-and-a-half hours later, the Tesco Express in Larkfield was attacked when a member of the nearby B&Q staff heard a thud at 4am.

She then heard loud voices coming from two men in hoodies - and a third hiding in bushes. Minutes later, a white van arrived and the three ran away.

The Tesco manager later reported the alarm had been triggered at 3.30am, but the machine with £140,000 inside was still unopened. Rosman was spotted by police while keeping a look-out sitting in her mum's Ford Galaxy on the A20 near the store.

The prosecutor told the court that when the thwarted thieves couldn't get into the ATM - they took £9,000 worth of cigarettes instead.

Whitlock, of no fixed address, later confessed to eight more ATM attacks that he carried out without the gang - and which netted him £72,000. He was jailed for four years and 10 months.

Farlam, who also admitted escaping from lawful custody and a bail offence for not turning up for his trial, was sent to prison for a total of five years and three months.

Rosman and her lover Kidley, both from Streatham, south London, each received 45 month sentences and May, from Charlton, was jailed for three years and five months.

All but Farlam had admitted a variety of burglary and attempted burglary charges. Farlam was found guilty by a jury at a trial last year.