A team of robbers in England, named the "mole-in-the-wall gang", have dug a 12m underground tunnel and stolen an ATM only to realise it contained less than $9000.
The gang had tried the tunnelling method in August 2007 but were caught out when builders found it while putting down electric cables.
This time around, the thieves used shovels, a wheelbarrow and scaffolding to create the tunnel into the building in Manchester at the start of this year, The Sun reports.
A worker in the Blockbuster store, where the ATM was housed, remembered the theft three years ago and said the gang must be very determined.
"It must have taken them weeks to do it and they must have wanted that machine really badly to go to all this effort again," the worker said.
"Heaven knows what their reaction must have been like when they realised there was only &mpound;6000 [$8900] inside. They probably thought it wasn't worth the bother."
The machines would normally contain up to $30,000 but since the gang decided to take the machine at the end of the busy New Year's period, the funds inside were low.
Police were called to the store on January 4 when security guards who came to collect the money found the machine was empty. It is believed the robbery had taken place on December 3.
Officers found the tunnel after investigating the building.
News home