Youths arrested an hour's drive away from Christchurch ram-raid

The manager of a store allegedly ram-raided by four youths overnight is describing the incident as a giant setback.

The Cosmic store on Colombo Street had its front windows knocked out by a car around 4.15 this morning.

Store Manager Josh Day says the offenders only took two vapes and "nothing of any great value".

He says it's the second time they've been ram raided in the past two months and its just a big waste of time, having to clean up.

Police say they were notified at 4.40am that a stolen vehicle was used to gain entry to the store. Four youths believed to be involved in the burglary were located near Ashburton later this morning.

They've been taken into custody and will be referred to Youth Aid.