Two men have been sentenced to a total of eight years in prison for their involvement in the attempted theft of a cash machine in Preston earlier this year.

Nathan Green, 37, of Sale Road, Manchester and Joseph Pike, 30, of Tabley Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, both appeared at Preston Crown Court on Friday 30 October.

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Green was sentenced to 45 months behind bars for burglary, with a further 15 months to run consecutively for dangerous driving.

Pike was sentenced to 36 months behind bars for burglary.

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The incident occurred on July 11 at the Co-op store on Granton Walk, Ingol. It was reported at around 10.30pm that a break-in was ongoing and when officers attended they found offenders had used power tools to gain access to the shop, before a Kia Sportage had been attached to the cash machine and attempts had been made to pull it from the premises.

Fortunately the Kia’s bumper came off and the offenders were forced to flee empty-handed. The Kia was abandoned nearby but officers were able to identify a second vehicle, a BMW, also being used by the group.

A short time later it was located and pursued before eventually brought to a stop near Oldham.

Both the Kia and the BMW had been reported stolen prior to the incident.

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Both defendants pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

DC Wendy Potter, of Preston CID, said: “Green and Pike are now facing long stretches behind bars after making attempts to steal a cash machine before leading officers on a high-speed pursuit into Greater Manchester.

“This type of crime – targeting businesses and attempting to steal large amounts of cash – is completely unacceptable and I hope the sentences handed down send a message that incidents such as these will not be tolerated in Lancashire.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to warn criminals that we will be launching ‘Operation Vault’ in the run-up to Christmas, with measures being put in place to prevent incidents such as cash in transit robberies. Our operation will include response and neighbourhood officers, as well as specialist teams such as firearms and road policing officers, with the aim of targeting, deterring and disrupting criminals who carry out this type of crime.”

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A third man – Anthony Lees, 35, of no fixed address – was charged with burglary and taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent but failed to appear at court.

A bench warrant has since been issued for his arrest.

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