Keith, I agree.
Once you have done your daily limit you have to wait another 24 hours, so they may of just been trying to do , say, 100 quid a time until it refuses the card.
On the other hand if they go on the internet, say on a gambling site, they can do thousands an hour.
We use the ING bank and make sure we use their ATM, if anyone is hanging around we just tap on the window and the security guard comes out to stand next to us.
He apparently gets asked a lot.
Regards
Steve