Thieves blew a cash machine out of the wall of a bank in Borough Green late last night as an explosion was reportedly heard across the high street.

The Barclays bank on Station Road was targeted at 11.18pm. Criminals pumped gas into the ATM before triggering an explosion to retrieve the money.

Alarms were still sounding as commuters began their journey to work this morning at 8.30am.

Police say they do not yet know how much money was stolen in the raid, but a spokesman confirmed they are searching for a dark colored VW Golf in relation to the explosion.

The bank is still cordoned off and police are at the scene.

Barclays spokesman Danny Reardon said the attack on the branch has caused "extensive damage" to the bank bank building and engineers are on their way to the site to assess the repairs that will be needed.

Mr Reardon said: "We will work hard to reopen as soon as possible but this in unlikely to be until midweek. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused by this temporary closure.

"Our nearest branches are in Sevenoaks and Larkfield."

This is not the first time the Borough Green Barclays branch has been targeted with a gas explosion. In 2013 a gang of bank robbers were caught attempting to pump gas into the ATM.

A similar raid earlier that year saw a gang make off with £19,000 from the Riverhead Barclays branch in Sevenoaks. In 2014 five men were jailed for a total of 30 years for the crime.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.