LABOURER Stephen Midgley's dream trip to New Zealand was shattered by a gang of thieves using state of the art technology to steal thousands of pounds from Wiltshire bank accounts.

Police say the gang has used the tiny plastic device, which fits into the slot on ATM machines, to filch more than £40,000 from the county, but fear the total figure could be almost double.

Mr Midgley, of Low Lane, Calne, said he could not afford to buy his family presents after the thieves wiped more than £700 off his account just days before Christmas, and he was forced to borrow cash to buy them each a card.

The 22-year-old, who works as a labourer at Hills landfill site, said he had planned to travel to New Zealand last week and had been saving for months to buy an air ticket. He will now have to put his dream holiday on hold for several months.

He said: "I had no idea I had been robbed, I only discovered there was a problem when I went to get a McDonald's and I couldn't get any money out.

"I don't think people should be scared of using cash machines, but they need to be wary of these devices and if they see anything unusual call the police."

Det Con Andy Beaven, from Chippenham CID said the rectangular device is made from moulded plastic, which protrudes half a centimetre from the ATM slot.

He said when a bank card is inserted into the ATM the device records information from the card's magnetic strip, which the thieves can then download on to computers.

Dc Beaven said the thieves then replicate the cards, allowing them to steal thousands of pounds from bank accounts within hours. He said most people have no idea anything is wrong until they check their balance, sometimes up to a week later.

According to police the thieves first struck Wiltshire in November, using the device in ATM machines at Cricklade, Calne and Chippenham.

Police are not sure how the thieves are finding out the pin numbers, but one device, which was recovered by another police force, had a miniature camera attached to it. They suspect some of the thieves may find out the pin by standing behind their victims and watching what numbers they type into the machine.

Mr Midgley said: "I did think the mouth of the ATM slot was sticking out a bit.

"I just thought it was some new kind of security measure."

DC Beaven said the thieves appear to follow a pattern, blitzing an ATM machine in one town, recording several numbers, before quickly moving on to the next town.

The police suspect the gang may be from London because the ATMs where the thieves have withdrawn cash, are within the M25 area.