THREE people have been arrested by police after an observant local contacted officers on Thursday afternoon after noticing suspicious behaviour near the cashpoint machine at the Co-Op store on Westwood Avenue in Lowestoft.

THREE people have been arrested by police after an observant local contacted officers on Thursday afternoon after noticing suspicious behaviour near the cashpoint machine at the Co-Op store on Westwood Avenue in Lowestoft.

Police were contacted around 3.45pm by the alert local, who reported two men acting suspiciously.

Officers attended and discovered a card-reading device attached to the ATM. Information from the resident and a PCSO that had been the first to arrive at the scene led police officers to a vehicle that was then stopped in Waveney Drive.

Two men - a 25-year-old from Harrow in Middlesex and a 27-year-old from Borehamwood in Hertfordshire - were arrested on suspicion of possession of articles for use in fraud. Both were also subsequently arrested on suspicion of money laundering and are currently in custody being interviewed by officers.

An unknown amount of cash, cards and associated items were seized by police. Searches were then arranged at the men's homes and a woman was arrested at the Harrow address.

She is currently in custody in Harrow but will be brought back to Suffolk to be interviewed.