Armed police foil Heathrow gold raid

POLICE yesterday foiled an attempt to steal £80 million (€118m) in gold and cash from a Heathrow warehouse in a crime which would have rivalled the Great Train Robbery.

More than 100 officers, some armed were involved in the operation to stop the would-be raiders taking the gold and millions more in cash after tracking their scheme for several weeks.

Seven men were arrested and taken for questioning at west London police stations, but one man was still on the loose last night after fleeing the area.

The gang rammed through the shutters of the Swissport cargo warehouse on the outskirts of the airport in a white Transit van at 10am. They had apparently gained access to the area by producing what appeared to be legitimate paperwork.

Once inside, the men threatened staff with at least one gun, knives and cudgels.

But officers from the Met's Flying Squad and the armed response team were lying in wait.

Police disabled the van by firing Hatton rounds bullets designed to deflate tyres with minimum damage before arresting six men, all in their 30s.

None of the staff was injured but one police officer was slightly hurt.

Two men fled in a hijacked van but one was later arrested. The eighth man remains on the run.

Det Supt Barry Phillips, from the Flying Squad, said the audacious raid "would have been one of the biggest robberies ever committed in the UK".

The target was £40 million of gold bullion and what was described as "a substantial amount of currency" believed to be millions of pounds.