A MERE four days before masked thieves broke into Abergavenny's Santander in the early hours of Sunday morning, a similar incident happened just over the border in Wells, Somerset.

Somerset County Gazette reports that in the early hours of Tuesday, October 20, a masked group of three of four men broke in through the front door of the bank and damaged an ATM before fleeing the scene in a dark car.

Unlike the Abergavenny burglary, where police report a large quantity of cash was taken, the gang in Somerset left empty-handed.

A spokesperson from Avon and Somerset Police said, "Police were called to a report of a burglary at a bank in Market Place, Wells, just before 1.18 am on Tuesday 20 October.

"Officers attended within 10 minutes and found the door of the Santander Bank had been forced and an ATM inside damaged. A group of three or four masked men had reportedly left the scene in a black car."

The similarities between the two incidents could well be coincidental, but anyone with information can contact Gwent Police by calling 101 or via the Gwent Police website, quoting log reference 2600348994.