Two men arrested after botched bank robbery

TWO men were arrested yesterday following an armed siege at a London bank just a few hundreds yards from Buckingham Palace.

Three women were held hostage for more than two hours at the HSBC branch in Buckingham Palace Road, after what was believed to have been a botched robbery bid.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter, of the Metropolitan Police, said the three bank employees were unharmed. One man was found by a police dog handler inside the building and another was arrested when armed officers arrived on the scene.

Mr Trotter said: “A dog handler from the Metropolitan Police’s armed unit went into the building.

“Police then searched the building and a suspect was found and arrested and taken to a police station.” It was understood the women barricaded themselves in a back room when they were confronted by the suspect.

They are said to have been “petrified” but unharmed following their ordeal, which ended after lunch time.

Eyewitnesses described how events began to unfold shortly before noon after a Securicor van pulled up outside the bank.

A man then went into the bank brandishing what appeared to be a handgun and jumped the counter, taking staff hostage.

Police were on the scene within minutes and a second man, who was black and appeared to be in his 20s, was arrested outside the bank and bundled into a van.

Witnesses said up to 30 armed police rushed to the scene, including several on rooftops. A wide area around the bank was cordoned off.