£53m heist police find cash on estate

Detectives in England were today questioning a man on suspicion of handling stolen goods after up to £7m (€10.2m) from Britain’s biggest robbery was found hidden on an industrial estate.

The money was found in a yard at the back of a vehicle repair business on the Graves industrial estate in Welling, south-east London.

Most of the money from last week’s £53m (€77.2m) raid on a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent, is still missing.

A 43-year-old man was arrested as dozens of officers swooped at ENR Cars, a business run by Nigel Reeve.

Mr Reeve, who drove to Spain in a white van two days after the robbery, said he was completely innocent and was happy to return to the UK if Kent Police asked him to.

He said the 43-year-old man arrested at the site worked for him and was also “completely innocent”.

Part of the yard where the money appeared to have been found was sub-let to someone else, he said.

Mr Reeve said he drove to Javea, Spain, on February 24.

He said: “I was moving my girlfriend and my children. I wanted to give my kids a better life. I was due to come back on March 25.”

Mr Reeve said he was watching television pictures of forensic officers searching inside a blue container in the yard.

“That’s my container. After the robbery, I’m driving to Spain in a white van - I know it doesn’t look good but I’m completely innocent,” he said.

“I’ve just phoned Kent Police again to see if they want me to go back but they haven’t got back to me. The first I knew about all this was when I heard it on the news.”

Several mechanics in other workshops on the estate described Mr Reeve as well liked.

One said: “He’s a good bloke and as far as I know he’s never been in any trouble. I saw him last week and he said he was going on holiday.

“The police turned up yesterday at dinnertime. It was plain clothes first, then uniform in vans. There were loads of them, about 40.”

Sniffer dogs were also brought in to aid the search, which focused on the container at the back.

The yard, which is surrounded by a 7ft-high brick wall and barbed wire, also contained several vehicles and a speedboat.

Police took away bagloads of evidence.

Two security cameras on top of the ENR Cars building monitor the yard and detectives were expected to try to secure footage from them.

Five people, four men and a woman, have appeared in court in connection with the heist.