A large number of people walking on Castille Place this morning looked on with amazement this morning as two large containers and a forklifter emerged from the Central Bank in a convoy of heavy police escort while an army helicopter flew over.

The operation was conducted shortly before 10 a.m. when many people were in the area - since the main entrance to Valletta is now through Castille place.

Policemen and soldiers armed with automatic hand guns stood in the street and in a number of vehicles as the containers were driven out. The destination was another strong room, informed sources said.

It is not known if the operation was linked to the demolition of City Gate, which is close to the Central Bank's vaults.

High security was also observed at the airport, where another two containers were unloaded from an Airbus 300 cargo plane just before Noon. They joined the convoy from Valletta escorted by the AFM, members of the SAG and plain clothes policemen.