Thousands cut off in bank robbery bungle (From Gazette Series)

Thousands cut off in bank robbery bungle

A FAILED bank raid in Wotton-under-Edge left thousands of homes without telephone lines yesterday.

Several hours after residents' phone lines are thought to have been cut, a group of thieves is believed to have attempted to steal a cash machine from Lloyds bank on Long Street.

Approximately 5,000 residents in Wotton, Hillesley and parts of Charfield found themselves without telephone lines and internet access early on Wednesday evening.

British Telecom spokesperson Chris Orum told the Gazette that no faults on the line could be detected and that the Wotton exchange had been deliberately cut.

He said: "We have been experiencing a few problems in the Wotton area. It would appear the telephone cables have been cut near the exchange with something like a hacksaw. They cut through all 19 copper cables and 7 fibre optic cables.

"It is criminal damage and we are talking with the police." Police say they were made aware of the criminal damage to the BT exchange on Clarence Road at approximately 4.20am on Thursday morning. It is also understood that several manhole covers had been lifted.

An hour later police were called to an attempted robbery at the Lloyds bank branch.

The group of robbers entered the bank by the rear of the building and it is believed they caused fire damage during the raid although police were unable to confirm this at time the Gazette went to press yesterday.

Matt Ford, Gloucestershire Constabulary spokesman said police believed there was a strong connection between the two incidents.

He said: "We received a call at 5.20am on Thursday morning to say that a group of suspects had managed to break into the bank and attempted to remove the cash machine, which they failed to do.

"There are a lot of CCTV cameras in that part of the town so we will be studying them in due course."

BT said yesterday they were repairing the damage and homes on the Wotton exchange would be reconnected as soon as possible, although some people could be left without phones for days.

Mr Orum said: "It will be a gradual process, some people will be reconnected quicker than others. Obviously we will try to reconnect high priority locations first, such as doctors.

"Later this afternoon we will be taking a mobile pay phone to the Wotton exchange location for people to use.

"All I can say is we are working as quickly as we can and getting people reconnected as soon as possible."

Members of the public who require any of the emergency services are being advised to go to Wotton police station where there are officers and an ambulance unit in attendance.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to either incident to come forward. Anyone with any information should contact police on 0845 090 1234 quoting incident number 50 for November 3.