Man arrested in Barnham after ‘attempting to steal ATM from supermarket’ with crane – Southern services recovering following ram raid

Sussex Police said officers were called to a building site at around 2.15am this [July 4] morning to reports of a small crane having been stolen in Yapton Road.

Response units came across a ‘crane attempting to steal an ATM’ from from the Co-Op in Barnham Road.

Sussex Police said the 43-year-old man from Ashford, Middlesex driving the crane was detained, but a white Volvo XC60 was seen leaving the scene.

A Sussex Police spokesperson said: “Police arrested a man in Barnham on Tuesday morning (4 July) after stopping an aggravated burglary in progress at a supermarket.

“Officers had been called to a building site in Yapton Road at around 2.15am to reports of a small crane having been stolen.

“Response units were deployed to nearby cash machines and came across a crane attempting to steal an ATM from a supermarket in Barnham Road.

“The driver of the crane, a 43-year-old man from Ashford, Middlesex, was detained after a short foot chase and arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and criminal damage. He remains in custody at this time.

“A white Volvo XC60 was also seen to leave the scene.

“Anyone who witnessed the incident, or has any information or footage that could help, is asked to contact police online or via 101, quoting serial 1624 of 03/07.”

The Co-Op is part of the same building and sits next door to the traincrew depot, where train drivers and on-train colleagues collect their equipment and sign on each morning to staff Southern’s train service.

Southern customer services director Jenny Saunders said: “We were forced to close the depot until 9am when a structural engineer from the council confirmed it was safe to enter.

“Until then, our crew were being organised to sign on at alternative locations wherever possible but we could only run a reduced service and there has been a lot of disruption to our customers’ journeys today for which I apologise.

“We arranged ticket acceptance with other transport providers and we have been rebuilding the service. Regrettably, disruption due to the displacement of our colleagues and trains is expected to last into the afternoon.”

Southern anticipate the disruption will last until 4pm.

A statement on Southern’s website said: "The police have been dealing with an incident in the Barnham area which had caused structural damage to a train crew depot building. This had to be evacuated for safety.

“A structural engineer from the local council has attended and deemed it safe following an inspection.

“Barnham train crew depot is a major personnel and equipment hub for train drivers and on-train staff. A large number of train crew have been unable to start their duties this morning, which will severely affect services throughout the west coast area into the rest of the day.

“Staff are now working hard to return services to their booked timetables but due to the earlier disruption and displacement of crew this will take some time.

“Due to the police dealing with an earlier incident near the railway in the Barnham area, fewer trains will run on all Southern routes between Brighton, Littlehampton, Portsmouth, and Southampton Central.

“Your journey could take up to 60 minutes longer than usual, and you may need to use an alternative route to reach your destination. Before travelling, please check journey planners and station information boards, and allow extra time to complete your journey.

“You can use your ticket to travel at no extra cost on:

“Southern and Thameslink services on any reasonable route

“South Western Railway services between Portsmouth/Southampton/Havant and London Waterloo

“Great Western Railway services between Southampton and Portsmouth and also Gatwick Airport via Reading to assist those with onward journeys

“London Underground between London Terminals – for London Waterloo and connections via South Western Railway services.

“Stagecoach Buses route 700, which runs between Brighton and Littlehampton, and between Littlehampton and Portsmouth and 500 which runs between Littlehampton, Barnham, and Chichester

“Brighton & Hove Buses on all routes for stations between Brighton and Shoreham-by-Sea.”

Anyone delayed by 15 minutes or more can claim Delay Repay compensation at southernrailway.com.