Robbers have got away with a haul of cash after exploding a cash machine next to Clayton Co-Op.

It happened at 1.30am today with flames from the machine ripping through the small stone-built annex housing the machine in Bradford Road.

It is thought they used gas cylinders which blew open a side door and threw large lumps of stone off the annex walls and roof. Debris was scattered outsidethe Co-Op and in nearby back gardens.

Two tall gas cannisters were left behind at the scene attached to a car battery with green-coloured hosing leading into the front of the machine, a metal rod could also be seen sticking out of it.

Scenes of crime were examining the area as a police officer stood guard by the cordon.

The force of the blast was so strong it compromised the stability of the annex, said Watch Commander Jav Khan from Fairweather Green Fire Station, who attended with a crew.

"A nearby resident reported it as a building fire. When we got there we saw it involved a cash machine. It had been emptied and the flames from the explosion the robbers had caused to get into it had whipped back through the building," he added.

A structural engineer from Bradford Council was requested to go to check the scene.

Police are investigating. A police spokesman said: "Police were called to Town End Road in Clayton at around 1.22am today to a report of a stolen cash machine.

“Officers attended and found the machine had been removed from the outhouse it was contained in.

“The offence is thought to have occurred at around 1am today.

“Anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity in the area around this time is asked to contact Bradford District CID on 101, quoting crime reference 13180006465.

“Information can also be reported anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.”

In November last year a kiosk containing a cash machine was blown apart in an early morning raid at a village shop at the Co-Op in Steeton.

An explosive device was also used in a raid in November that caused major damage to the Co-op store in Cullingworth. Police investigating  said while there were no injuries, the incident could "quite easily have caused serious injury or death". There was speculation that a petrol bomb had been used.