German thieves steal new euro banknotes

German police have revealed that €1.2m was stolen during a robbery near the western town of Giessen yesterday.

Officials said the thieves stole all seven denominations of euro notes, from €5 to €500, from a Securicor cash transport truck.

The driver of the truck and an accomplice carried out the robbery and are still at large.

Police fear that the incident could give counterfeiters the opportunity to copy the new euro banknotes and put them into circulation when the euro is introduced on January 1st, 2002.