A MAN arrested in connection with the theft of a cash machine from a Malvern store has been released on police bail.

The 38-year-old from Evesham was arrested in Ledbury on Tuesday, forty minutes after a forklift truck had been used to rip the cash machine from the wall of Marks & Spencer on the retail park off Roman Way.

Police are looking for other people in connection with the incident and no further arrests have been made, but it is believed a red Mitsubishi pick-up truck and a black Renault Megane were also involved.

An automatic alarm fitted into the cash machine — which has not been recovered — alerted staff to the incident at 2am, and police were also alerted.

When they arrived they found the cash machine had been taken from the wall and a Manitou forklift truck — which had been reported as stolen from a property in Madresfield on Monday — had been left abandoned at the scene.

A police spokesman said the amount of money contained in the cash machine was “substantial” but the exact figure would not be disclosed for “operational reasons”.

Debris from the smashed wall lay around the front of the store, which was forced to close until noon on Tuesday.

A spokesman from Marks & Spencer, said: “Police were called following a cashpoint theft at the M&S Malvern store in the early hours. The store closed while the police conducted their investigations and the damage was assessed.”

Call police on 101 quoting 22S041114 with any information.