RAMRAIDERS made off empty-handed after smashing through the front of a Radcliffe convenience store - but it could still cost the business several thousand pounds.

The gang broke into the Mace Convenience Store, in Unsworth Street, Radcliffe, at around 2.30am on Friday by ploughing their Mitsubishi 4x4 through the shop’s shutters.

After smashing a gaping hole through the shopfront, they then rammed the car into the store’s cash machine and dragged it outside.

The raiders were unable to steal any money from the ATM and fled the scene as police officers arrived, having been called when the shop’s alarm was triggered.

As well as the cost of repairing the damage, the shop has been forced to reduce its opening hours because of the increased danger of being burgled at night.

One shop assistant, who has worked at the store for four years, told the Radcliffe Times that staff felt "threatened" after the raid.

The assistant, who asked not to be named, said: “We are having to shut early now because we don’t feel that the shop is safe of a night anymore. We feel threatened.

“The business we lose because of that, on top of all of the damage that has been caused is going to cost us thousands of pounds.

“Losing the ATM will also reduce our business because there won’t be the same footfall through the shop.”

New shutters have already been installed at a cost of almost £1,000, but owners Mace are also faced with buying new doors and repairing damage to the store’s ceiling and wiring.

He added: “These people haven’t got any money for themselves from this, but they have had a huge effect on our business.

“We have had a few people try and break in here before, but in the four years that I have worked here this is by far the worst thing that has happened.”

Police are also investigating two similar incidents that happened last Friday morning in Trafford, in which ATMs at a bank and a service station were targeted. Cash machines in both locations were damaged in what police believe to be pressurised explosions, with money stolen from both at around 3.30am.

It is not known if the Radcliffe and Trafford incidents are linked.