SIX men have been sentenced to a total of 24 years in jail for being involved in cash machine raids across England.

Over an eight-month period 28 cash machines were targeted, including one at Beckenham Junction railway station in July 2007 and another in Dartford five months later.

The raids cost the ATM industry an estimated £500,000.

Sentenced at Southwark Crown Court, six men were jailed for between three and five years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal charges.

They were Richard Billiington, aged 28, from Purfleet, in Surrey, as well as Ricky Mayo, 26, Christopher Skuce, 29, Danny Dempsey, 41, Jason Worsley 28, and Craig Robinson, 25, all from Walthamstow.

Detective Inspector Paddy Kerr, who led the investigation for the British Transport Police, said: “The gang predominantly targeted railway stations, drive-through restaurants and service stations under the cover of darkness and used angle grinders and crow bars to access the free-standing ATMs, on occasion simply carrying away the entire machine.

“The group often operated in teams of between two and four and would sometimes strike several locations in an evening."