FOUR men used a tractor to try to steal a cash machine from a garage in Wingham.

The gang smashed the front window of the Casino garage in Canterbury Road and dragged the cash machine out with a rope at around 4am on Tuesday, March 30.

The tractor then towed the machine down the A257 towards Canterbury while another member of the gang followed in a stolen maroon Isuzu Trooper.

The attack forced a security guard on the premises to hide in a back room as the men smashed their way into the shop.

Debris was strewn across the garage forecourt and scratch marks on the ground showed the route the thieves had used to drag the machine away.

It is the second time the garage has been targeted this year and owner Mohammed Jahangir is blaming police for not doing enough to prevent rural crime in Wingham.

He said: "I'm not happy with the police cover. We used to have a night patrol here, but now that's gone.

"The thieves can march in and march straight back out again. If we had the police driving about that would be a deterrent."

No one from South East Kent Police responded to questions over Mr Jahangir's complaints.

The gang ran into police on Wingham Well Lane and abandoned the tractor and the cash machine before escaping across a field in the Isuzu. A police car was rammed in the melee.

Anyone with information about the latest attempted theft is asked to call 01303 850055.