Following planning permission from East Hampshire District Council to restore the damage caused to a Grade II listed building during a ram raid a year ago, repairs to Lloyds Bank in Liphook Square are set to begin next week.

The bank re-opened for business two weeks after its ATM machine was ripped out of the wall during an early-morning ram raid last March, but scaffolding has since propped up the damaged part of the building, which is located in a conservation area.

A Lloyds Bank spokesman told The Herald: "Work is due to begin on Monday, February 25, and we are hopeful that it will be finished by June or July.

"The parking area at the back of the building will not be closed, however it will be limited due to on-site contractors.

"The banking hall is open as normal and customers can continue to use the services provided, including for withdrawal of cash.

"All efforts are being made to have a replacement ATM in place as soon as possible. We apologise to our customers for this disruption in service." 

In December, police made six arrests linked to the spate of ATM thefts across Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex in a series of morning raids.

Surrey and Sussex serious organised crime unit conducted a major operation with help from Hampshire Police. Seventy officers carried out the arrests and subsequent searches at a host of properties in north-east Hampshire and west Surrey.

A police spokesman said at the time: "ATM theft is a national issue and we have seen organised criminal gangs targeting more rural locations across the country, including in Hampshire and our neighbouring counties."

Five men have since been accused of masterminding 11 ram raids across the area and are to stand trial at Lewes Crown Court in East Sussex in June. But the ram-raiders who targeted the Liphook branch of Lloyds Bank on March 3 last year are still at large.