Ram raider smashes into shop with van before jumping counter to grab till

The grocery shop in The Villas in Thornley was targeted by the thief, who had pulled a balaclava over their face before launching the early hours attack using a van.
Witnesses have told detectives from Durham Constabulary they saw the red vehicle “repeatedly reversed into the front of the shop.” 
The masked driver entered the store through the gap and jumped over the counter to take the till and its contents, before fleeing the scene in the same van.