Building owner looks to better future two years on from Chatteris ram raid
It's since had a revamp following the break-in in January 2022
The owner of a shop building in Chatteris has said having little reason for ram raiders to break in will help protect it from future damage.
It's two years to the day that a gang smashed into the shopfront of the Nisa store on Park Street, as well as stealing a cash machine.
It took more than 12 months for the shopfront to be fully replaced, with damage costing thousands of pounds to repair.
Councillor Ian Benney is the freeholder of the store:
"I haven't had anybody come to me in the street saying 'that looks terrible' and everybody says 'I like your new shopfront'; it's also made the building fit for purpose, which is what it was (before the ram raid)," he said.
"I think the biggest thing that is safeguarding the shop from being ram raided again is the shop owner decided not to put another ATM in because that is the attraction of the ram raid; he said it's just not worth it.
"You've got to have something that's attractive for somebody to steal and by taking the ATM away, you've taken away the biggest prize and I think that's the biggest deterrent you can offer."
Where have ram raids happened since?
Hours after the break-in at Nisa in 2022, a Co-op store on Milton Road, Cambridge was also targeted by ram raiders.
They come before ram raids in the likes of Walsoken, Bassingbourn, Whittlesey and Soham with attempts in Linton and St Neots within the last two years.
In November, Cambridgeshire Police told Greatest Hits Radio that in the last 10 years, there has been an average of 10 ram raids a year.
What is being done to tackle ram raids?
Cambridgeshire Police said they are increasing patrols and supporting an 'adopt an ATM' initiative run by an arm of the Neighbourhood Watch team called ATM Watch launched by the county's police and crime commissioner Darryl Preston.
The scheme is designed to create so-called “protective bubbles” around ATM machines across the county.
Detective Chief Inspector Chris O'Brien is the force's lead investigating ram raids.
“Ram raids often take place between October and January when the nights are darker," he said.
“Our patrols will increase across the county and we will also be working with partner agencies, including ATM Watch, to target suspects and educate businesses with ATM machines about potential risks and, more importantly, any protective measures they can take.
“We are committed to making it harder for ATM thieves to target our local shops and ATM machines and will be targeting areas we believe are at increased risk - but we can’t do it alone."
He added that the public can help "make all the difference and potentially stop somewhere being targeted."