RAMRAIDERS destroyed a grocery store and caterers when they smashed through the shopfront and ripped out a cash machine.

Thieves reversed a red Transit van through the window of Crabtree’s Catering in Blackburn Road, Egerton, and then attached a chain to an ATM to drag it out.

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Owners Carol and Philip Crabtree, who run the business with her son Mark and his wife Stephanie, live above the store and were asleep when the burglary took place.

Mrs Crabtree said: “These guys got out all in black clothing with masks. There were at least five of them.

“They were shouting to be quick as if they knew there was a time limit before the police arrived.

“We barricaded ourselves in our bedroom because I was frightened of them coming upstairs. I was stressed and crying.

“When Phil put his head out of the window to confront them, they sprayed some sort of mist in his face so that he couldn’t see. There was banging for about 15 minutes and they caused thousands of pounds of damage.”

The raiders, possibly armed with crowbars, wrecked and moved two chiller units, a dairy fridge and an ice cream freezer out of the way to create a pathway through the narrow shop, smashing produce and shelves in the process.

The NoteMachine cash machine was bolted to the floor and was wrenched loose with the chain before being loaded into the Transit van in which the gang left.

Crabtrees was established in 2005 and the new shopfront had only been installed this year.

The premises has been boarded up, following the incident at 1.30am on Friday, and is awaiting cleaning, repair and refitting.

Mrs Crabtree said: “I want people to know how bad the damage was and also I want people to know we’re not closed down.

“The sooner we reopen the better and we’re doing everything we can.

“We have a really good clientele and we’re very grateful for their support.”