Police hunting a gang behind a string of cash machine raids smashed their way into a suspect's home using a chainsaw.

Five men and one woman were arrested on suspicion of attacking nine ATMs in banks and shops across the UK, including in Leighton Buzzard and Towcester near Milton Keynes, on Wednesday, October 16.

The gang rammed a flat-bed van through walls and doors to reach the machines, which contained hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash.

(Image: SWNS)

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They then used angle grinders and ‘jaws of life’ cutting equipment – which they stole from two fire stations – to break them open.

The gang also struck cash machines in Cumbria and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Detectives say they used five stolen high-powered Audis as getaway cars.

(Image: SWNS)

West Midlands Police swooped in on six addresses in the Midlands and one in Cumbria in a series of dawn raids on October 15, as part of the force’s Operation Target crackdown on serious and organised crime.

The suspects, aged between 28 and 49, were arrested at properties in Bromsgrove, Bloxwich, Bliston, Featherstone and Carlisle.

They are being held on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle, conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to handle lifesaving equipment.