Armed gang steals up to £40m after depot chief is abducted

An armed gang posed as policemen to abduct a security manager and his family before stealing up to £40m in one of Britain's biggest robberies.

A gang of at least six people tied up 15 members of staff at the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent, before making off with the cash.

The highly orchestrated raid involved the synchronised kidnaps of the depot manager and of his young son and wife, who was told that her husband had been injured in a car accident in order to leave her home in Herne Bay, Kent.

Robbers threatened the manager at gunpoint and forced him to help them gain access to the cash at the depot, enabling them to pull off the crime which police have said was "planned in detail over time".

Within hours of the theft, the Bank of England had been alerted that the cash, which was due to be distributed to banking customers around south-east England, had been stolen. Senior Government ministers were also told of the theft. The Bank confirmed last night that Securitas has reimbursed them with an initial £25m and will reimburse the exact amount stolen once a full audit has been conducted.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that up to £40m was taken, making the robbery Britain's biggest ever cash heist, dwarfing the £26.5m raid on the Belfast's Northern Bank in December 2004. The Bank of England is reviewing its security arrangements for storage of banknotes as a result.

As forensic officers examined the scene last night, details of the meticulously planned kidnaps that enabled the robbery to take place emerged. On Tuesday evening, while his wife and son were being abducted from their home, the manager of Securitas' main cash depot south of the Thames was pulled over in his car near Maidstone, by what he believed was an unmarked police car.

A man wearing a high-visibility jacket and "police-style" hat got out of the vehicle, which had blue lights in the radiator grill, and spoke to him. The manager, believing the men to be officers, got into their car and was handcuffed.

The manager was then driven in the car, which may have been a Volvo or similar vehicle, westbound along the M20 on to the West Malling bypass, where he was tied up and put into a white van. At an unknown location, gang members threatened the manager at gunpoint and told him to "co-operate or his family would be at risk", a Kent police spokesman said.

He was forced to help the armed robbers gain access the guarded site and the cash stored at the Vale Road depot, one of 11 cash management centres run by Securitas. At 1am yesterday morning, at least six men wearing balaclavas, some armed with handguns, threatened and tied up about 15 members of staff. The gang spent the next hour loading the cash into a 7.5-tonne white lorry, before driving off at about 2.15am.

Kent police were alerted to the crime when the shocked, but unhurt, staff activated an alarm. The manager, his wife and son were also uninjured.

Detective Superintendent Paul Gladstone of Kent police's serious and organised crime unit said: "This was a traumatic ordeal for the manager of the security depot, his family and all of the staff who worked there. They have all coped extremely well in the circumstances, when faced with threats and a gang of armed men.

"It is vitally important that we hear from people who may have seen something suspicious or someone acting oddly either round the depot in Vale Road, or in any of the locations where this gang was operating in the time up to the robbery.

"This was clearly a robbery that was planned in detail. Someone must have information that will help us in the hunt for the robbers. A very substantial sum of money running into millions of pounds has been stolen and we are determined to bring the robbers to justice."

A Securitas spokesman said: "Clearly our thoughts go out to everyone who has been affected by this. It's a terrible thing for anyone to have to go through. We are particularly pleased, if that's the right expression, that no one has been hurt."

A Bank of England spokeswoman said: "The Bank is working closely with Securitas and the police. The Bank is relieved that the staff of SCM (Securitas Cash Management Ltd) are now safe and unharmed. There is no cost at all to the Bank or the taxpayer."

In December 2004, in a robbery which also involved the kidnap of relatives of staff to secure vast sums of cash, £26.5m was taken from the Belfast headquarters of the Northern Bank. Almost none of the cash has been recovered, although some cash seized in County Cork last year was linked to the robbery.

Steve Park, who runs a security consultancy firm, said that the gang had detailed knowledge of their target. "They would not be planning this crime unless they knew this money would be there. One suspects that this money is going to leave the country in smaller bundles. The notes will be numbered, I am surprised they have not already been rendered useless," he told Sky News. He said that the perpetrators will need an "even bigger plan" to get rid of such a vast quantity of cash due to the high-profile nature of the crime.

Police officers are appealing for information from anyone who saw:

* The manager's silver Nissan Almera car being stopped on the A249 northbound, just past the Three Squirrels public house.

* A Volvo or similar car meeting with a white van.

* A white 7.5 ton truck in the Tonbridge area in the early hours of this morning.

Kent police urged anyone with information to telephone their special incident room on 01622 652 361 or 652 366

The biggest robberies

CITY OF LONDON, 1990

Global banks were hit when at least £292m in bearer bonds and financial documents was stolen. Kenneth Cheeseman was convicted in New York of money-laundering and sentenced to six and a half years in jail. The masterminds escaped.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE, July 1987

Raiders broke into a safe deposit box centre in London and stole cash, jewellery and other contents worth over £30m. The mastermind, Valerio Viccei, was jailed.

BRINK'S-MAT, November 1983

More than 6,800 bars of gold, worth £26m, were seized by an armed gang from awarehouse near Heathrow airport. Little of the bullion was recovered. Only three of the six gang members have been convicted.

GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, August 1963

The gang netted £2.6m in used bank notes from a mail train near Cheddington, Bedfordshire. One by one the gang were captured and convicted.

NORTHERN BANK, December 2004

The £26.5m robbery, allegedly carried out by the IRA, is claimed to be Britain's biggest bank raid. Four people alleged to be connected with the raid are awaiting trial.

Oliver Duff