JOYRIDERS used the sound of New Year’s Eve fireworks to drown out the noise of repeatedly reversing a stolen car into a cashpoint in Backwell during an attempted theft.

It is believed the thieves broke into a car dealership in Station Road shortly after midnight on December 31 and at about half past 12 tried to ram raid the 24-hour HSBC machine based in a kiosk in Rodney Road.

They made off empty-handed but the car and cashpoint were destroyed.

The bank has since boarded up the ATM.

Villagers now face travelling three miles to Nailsea to withdraw money outside office hours because the only other cash point is in the post office.

HSBC closed the only bank in the village at the end of November due to low customer numbers.

A spokesman said: “Our security company has been on site to assess the situation and although the cashpoint was severely damaged the car thieves did not manage to get access to the cash.

“But we don’t know when the machine will be back in action.”

Police have launched an investigation and urge anyone with any information to contact them on 101.