Three arrests have been made following an attempted ram raid on Isleham Co-op.

The arrests were made 23 miles away in Needingworth following an incident at the village store in Mill Street on Tuesday 17.

Just three weeks earlier, on March 20, five men wearing balaclavas used sledgehammers to smash into the shop at about 11.25pm to steal cigarettes from behind the till before making off in a coupe style vehicle along Mill Street and Malting Lane.

In the latest Co-Op attack the police helicopter was scrambled at around 4.35am.

A force spokesman said: “An investigation has been launched by detectives following an attempted ram raid in Cambridgeshire in the early hours of this morning (Tuesday),” said a police spokesman.

“Officers attended the scene, along with the police helicopter, and shortly afterwards three men were arrested.

“They have been taken to police custody for questioning and enquiries are ongoing.”

“The incident took place at the Co-op at around 4.35am.”

Cambridgeshire Police are appealing for help to locate a vehicle in connection with the latest raid at Isleham Co-op.

A spokesman said: “We want to locate a dark Audi estate, described as sporty, possibly an ‘RS’ or ‘S’ model, with the index ‘YM55FHH’, however the plates could have been changed.

“If you have seen what could be this car in the Godmanchester, Huntingdon or Hinchingbrooke areas, please contact us either online quoting incident 335 of 17 April or call us on 101.”

The day before the Isleham incident, the Feltwell One Stop Store and post office, 30 miles away, was targeted by ram raiders who stole the cash machine and made off in a black vehicle in an overnight attack.

Residents had bricks thrown at their houses as they tried to stop the gang of burglars at around 3am.

Suspects forced entry into the building and removed the cash machine from inside before loading it onto what is believed to be a small black vehicle.

No one was injured as a result of the incident, reference 26, of Monday, April 16.

The BP garage at Littleport was attacked when a teleporter and a fork lift truck was used in a midnight ram raid on December 15.

Costcutter in Littleport was hit by ram-raiders on December 9 before burglars targeted the Co-op store in Wisbech Road two days later.

The Co-op petrol station in Burwell suffered an attempted ram raid overnight in November 17.

The offenders tried to remove a cash machine from the wall but were unsuccessful and fled the scene.