UK heist lorry found

Police hunting an armed gang who stole £53 million in Britain's biggest robbery said yesterday they believed they had found the white Renault lorry recorded on CCTV being used to carry the cash.

"It is now being examined by forensic experts after being recovered in Kent," a police spokeswoman said.

She added that a woman was arrested on Monday in connection with the armed raid on a security depot last week, taking the number of people in custody and being questioned to five.

Specialist search teams spent much of yesterday at various properties in Kent and south east England with particular attention paid to a farm located near to the town of Tonbridge where the raid occurred.

Television footage showed officers with sniffer dogs at the sprawling farm complex conducting focussed searches on an ornamental well and specific areas of undergrowth.

Kent Police said officers will man road checks at key locations linked to the crime, which took place on the evening of February 21 when six robbers, posing as police officers, kidnapped the manager of the security depot.

The gang also took his wife and young child from their home and held all three before making off with the cash.

A spokesman for the depot's operator Securitas said members of staff who were confronted by the armed men had described their ordeal as "brutal" and "horrific."

Senior police officers continue to characterise the investigation as fast-paced and say they are confident of catching the perpetrators.

Pictures of the silver Nissan Almera driven by the depot manager and the fake blue Volvo "police" car used by the crooks, were released in a bid to jog people's memories.

Detectives are continuing to examine items already recovered which include cages used for carrying cash, various guns, pieces of clothing, body armour and about £1.3 million in cash from an abandoned white van.