The removal of a digger smashed into a supermarket has revealed the ATM believed to be stolen remained on site.

In the early hours of Friday (October 26), a red Manitou digger stolen from a nearby farm was crashed into the front of the Tesco store on Coppice Row in Theydon Bois.

While it was thought the group fled after extracting the ATM, it transpires the cash machine was never taken.

A spokesperson for Essex Police said: "Officers investigating an ATM theft from a Tesco Store on Coppice Road, Theydon Bois are now treating the crime as an attempted theft after an ATM was recovered from the building."

Up until Wednesday the digger remained largely untouched, a police presence closing off a crime scene and building that structural engineers considered liable to collapse.

Now the road is open again as the digger is extracted.

A spokesperson for Tesco said: "I’m pleased to confirm that work has begun on site and we have reopened the road so traffic disruption has eased. "Tesco will be running a free shuttle bus service for customers beginning next Monday."

The bus will run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the next two weeks.

It will leave Theydon Bois at 10am from the bus stop opposite the Queen Victoria Pub to drop off at the Epping Tesco.

It will then depart Epping Tesco at 12pm to return to the same location.

Wheelchair access on the bus is available provided the wheelchair is foldable.

The bus can accommodate 15 people per trip.

Jackie, an employee at the Theydon Bois store, will be greeting customers and travelling with them.