HOUNSLOW police this week warned the borough's residents to be vigilant when taking money out from cash machines after an upgraded Lebanese Loop' scam was found at a petrol station near Gillette Corner.

As luck would have it a policeman had stopped to use the cash machine at the Shell garage on the Great West Road in Isleworth at around 3.30pm on Thursday March 4, when the mechanism was discovered.

Seeing something was amiss as soon as he looked at the machine, the off duty policeman went into the garage to call police.

As he was calling his colleagues, he saw two suspects go to the cash machine and remove part of the device. They then walked quickly away from the scene.

DS Ray Semmons from Hounslow Police warned the public to be vigilant: "We do get one or two a week of these scams, but it happens much more often up in the West End. The point is, if it doesn't look right, then don't use the cash machine."

Hounslow police warned people to look out for leaflet boxes to the side of cash points which may contain tiny cameras used in the scam.