Thieves carry out biggest bank robbery in British history

December 21, 2004 Thieves have gotten away with money believed to be in excess of 20m (39m) from the headquarters of, a subsidiary of , in. Other sources have estimated the total to be as much as $58m. In what appears to be a meticulously planned operation, the families of two executives were held hostage on Sunday night by armed gunmen. The two executives were made to go to work yesterday as if everything was normal, after closing the bank they opened the vault for a number of robbers who then proceeded to empty the contents into a waiting truck over a two hour period.

The gang members did not hurt anyone, although one of the hostages was taken to hospital with, the circumstances of which have not been explained. Assistant Chief Constable Sam Kinkaid, a police spokesman, said that it is "far too early" to say if the thieves had "any connections to a paramilitary group".

The money stolen was almost entirely made up of Northern Bank notes which are highly distinctive, and harder to get rid of in large amounts than the more common Bank of England notes. Police are hoping that this fact will help them in finding the gang involved.