A PETROL station on the busy A32/A272 junction, south of Alton, has been left seriously damaged by thieves who failed in an attempt to rip out a cashpoint with a digger.

The raiders left a pile of rubble in their wake after failing to remove the cash machine from the West Meon Hut BP station early on Tuesday morning.

The incident, which happened around 3.30am, caused “significant structural damage” which will cost tens of thousands of pounds to repair, but the attackers fled empty handed.

Police scoured the scene for clues for much of the morning but it was a case of business as usual at the adjoining Budgens.

Although they have not been officially linked by the police, the incident was the latest in a series of attempted cash-machine thefts in Hampshire and neighbouring Surrey.

ATMs in Bordon, Liphook, Odiham, Lindford and Farnham have all been targeted in recent months.