Forklift Gang Rips Two Cash Machines from Peebles Bank in Daring Pre-Dawn Raid

Police in the Scottish Borders are hunting a gang of thieves who used a stolen telescopic forklift to tear two cash machines from the wall of a Royal Bank of Scotland branch in Peebles before hauling them away on a horsebox.

The audacious raid unfolded at around 03:00 on Tuesday, when the heavy machinery was driven into the bank on Eastgate in the town centre, smashing through the building's frontage and ripping out the ATMs.

Officers from Police Scotland believe the operation was a carefully planned series of crimes stretching across multiple stolen vehicles, with the forklift itself understood to have been taken without the owner's knowledge and abandoned at the scene once the cash machines had been loaded onto the waiting horsebox.

The incident has forced the closure of Peebles High Street to vehicles, leaving the town's main thoroughfare cordoned off while investigators comb the area for forensic evidence. Shutters and windows at the branch were left badly damaged, with rubble from the smashed facade scattered across the pavement outside. Photographs from the scene showed a large red Manitou telehandler still parked in the street where the raiders left it, alongside the taped-off entrance of the bank.

According to Police Scotland, a grey Audi saloon, a grey Isuzu D-Max pick-up truck towing a horsebox and a Manitou telehandler were all seen entering the Eastgate area in the early hours. The pick-up and its trailer had previously been reported stolen, and the vehicle used to ram the bank is also believed to have been taken unlawfully before being abandoned.

Three men dressed in dark clothing were observed leaving the scene in the Audi and the pick-up, heading in the direction of Northgate. Detectives have appealed to the public for help in identifying the suspects and tracing the vehicles involved.

Det Insp Keith Sinclair, who is leading the inquiry, described the incident as a "planned series of crimes, involving stolen vehicles, to target the cash machines". He confirmed that extensive inquiries are under way to trace those responsible, with officers working through CCTV footage from the surrounding streets and speaking to witnesses.

He also urged anyone who may have seen the vehicles at any point during the night, or who has any other information about the raid, to come forward. Police have not yet disclosed how much money was inside the two cash machines when they were removed, nor whether the branch will be able to reopen while structural assessments are carried out.

The raid has caused significant disruption to local services. Borders Buses announced that its services would not be able to use the nearby bus stop until further notice, adding to the travel problems created by the closure of the High Street to traffic. The road is expected to remain shut for some time while police examine the scene and workers begin clearing the considerable debris left behind.

Local reaction has been one of shock at the brazen nature of the crime in a small Borders town better known for its picturesque setting and annual arts festival than for large-scale organised theft. The use of a telehandler to physically extract cash machines is a tactic that has become increasingly familiar to police forces across the UK in recent years, with criminals targeting rural branches where response times may be longer and heavy plant machinery is often accessible on nearby building sites or farms. Those machines are typically secured with concrete and steel, meaning that only a substantial piece of equipment can remove them, and gangs frequently abandon the plant once the ATMs have been transferred to a getaway vehicle.

The involvement of a horsebox has also raised eyebrows among residents, with the trailer apparently chosen to move the stolen machines away from the town without attracting attention in the early hours. The fact that several vehicles were involved suggests a coordinated team with advance knowledge of the bank's layout and the surrounding streets.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has been approached for comment on the damage to its Peebles branch and on the theft of the two machines. The bank has not yet indicated when the branch will reopen, and it remains unclear whether the loss of the ATMs will leave customers in the town temporarily without access to cash or deposit services.

Police Scotland has asked anyone with information, dashcam footage or private CCTV covering the Eastgate and Northgate areas overnight to contact officers, quoting the ongoing inquiry. Detectives have stressed that even minor sightings of the vehicles before or after the raid could prove significant to the investigation.

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on ATMs in Scotland and northern England, and it is likely to renew concerns about the security of cash machines in rural communities, particularly where banks have already reduced their branch networks. For the people of Peebles, the immediate priority is the reopening of the High Street, but the longer-term question of how such a heavily equipped gang was able to operate in the centre of the town without being stopped remains unanswered.