Video: Apparent thief blown away by cash machine explosion

Police in Australia have released astonishing CCTV footage showing a would-be thief blowing up a cash machine and being knocked off his feet before running away as alarms sound.

The video shows the man, who is wearing a baseball cap and a shirt over his face, lighting an explosive and placing it on the ATM machine.

Yet the device explodes before the man can move away, setting off a large explosion and knocking the man over. He falls to the ground a few feet back, yet appears relatively unhurt as he quickly gets to his feet and runs off into the distance.

The incident took place at around 3:45am on Tuesday at an ANZ branch in Winnellie in Australia's Northern Territory.

Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Karl Day said police were called to the bank after the alarms were sounded following the explosion, with the ATM completely destroyed upon arrival.

"The offender is described to be a male of Caucasian appearance, medium build and at the time of the incident he was wearing dark coloured knee length shorts, a dark t-shirt, a dark hat, thongs and wore a light coloured shirt over his face.," Day said.

Police believe the same man could be responsible for a similar incident at another ATM on Christmas Eve in Winnellie.

Police urge anyone with any information on the incident or the perpetrator to contact them on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.