Police in Northern Ireland have arrested two men after an ATM was stolen near Belfast Airport.
The PSNI said a digger was used to steal the machine from a filling station at Tully Road, Nutts corner in County Antrim just before 3:30am this morning.
Police deployed a "significant number of resources" to the area after receiving reports of the theft.
The ATM was recovered a short time later.
The two arrested men - aged 26 and 31 - are still being questioned this afternoon on suspicion of theft and other offences.
Tully road remains closed and diversions are in place whilst the scene is examined further.
'Threat of more thefts is very real'
PSNI Detective Inspector Rachel Shields said they were able to foil the robbery after receiving information from the public.
She said: "This does not mean we will be complacent as we recognise there are a number of gangs carrying out these attacks on ATMs and the threat of more thefts is very real.
"Every single one of these attacks impacts the community significantly - denying access to money and on many occasions causing inconvenience as the shop or filling station is forced to close for repair."
Two arrests have been made following the theft of an ATM at Tully Road, Nutts Corner this morning. The theft occurred around 3.30am from a filling station in the area with the machine being recovered a short time later. Both arrests currently in custody.
— Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) April 30, 2019
Detective Inspector Shields added that officers will continuing doing all they can to catch those behind the recent spate of cash machine thefts.
There have been more than a dozen ATM thefts in the North since the start of the year, and several similar thefts in the Republic.
