Detectives investigating the multi-million pound armed robbery at the Securitas depot in Tonbridge in the early hours of Wednesday morning (22 February) have released further details about the manager and his family’s ordeal in the time leading up to the raid.

Officers are also following a number of enquiries focusing on the various vehicles used by the robbers, including a white Renault 7.5 tonne lorry used to load the stolen cash, a Volvo car used to abduct the manager and another saloon type car driven by gang members.

Detective Superintendent Paul Gladstone, who is leading the investigation, said: ‘I’d like to stress that these men were armed, dangerous, and violently threatening towards the manager, his wife and their eight year old son and towards staff at the security depot.

‘They held the manager in fear of his life and that of his wife and son for more than six hours, and threatened to kill him and his family, before raiding the depot. We can be thankful that everyone was found unharmed.

‘This gang meticulously planned this crime and will have spent a lot of time preparing for this robbery. They may have carried out surveillance at both the depot and followed the movements of the manager and his family. Someone out there must have noticed someone acting suspiciously or something odd in the days, even weeks before the robbery took place and even in the hours up to the raid.

‘Someone out there may notice that someone is acting suspiciously now, or is no longer around since the robbery – I want to hear from anyone who thinks they may know something – no matter how trivial they think it might be.’

Fifty officers from Kent Police’s serious and major crime squad are now working on the inquiry and an incident room has been set up at headquarters in Maidstone.

The public are being urged to contact Kent Police on two special hotline numbers with information - 01622 652361 or 01622 652366.

The gang, of at least six men, some wearing masks and carrying handguns, struck at the Securitas depot in Vale Road shortly after midnight.

Earlier, at 6.30pm on Tuesday evening (21 February), they had kidnapped the depot manager as he drove home from work. The man stopped his silver Nissan Almera on the A249 north bound carriageway just past the Three Squirrels public house near Stockbury (between Maidstone and Sittingbourne) when he was being followed by what he believed to be an unmarked police car, possibly a Volvo, with blue lights in the radiator grill.

A man travelling as a passenger in the Volvo got out of the car wearing a high visibility jacket and police style hat and spoke to the manager who, thinking these were genuine police officers, got into the Volvo car where he was handcuffed. His Nissan Almera was left in the layby.

It is known that the Volvo car containing two of the gang and the manager then drove towards the M20 and joined the motorway at junction 7, heading on the London bound carriageway and then left the M20 using the West Malling/Tonbridge exit slip at junction 4, going onto the West Malling bypass.

The manager recalls being taken to a farm building somewhere in the West Kent area where he was held by his captors. A gun was held against the man’s head and he was told to co-operate or his family and he would be killed.

While he was being kidnapped, his wife and eight year old son were also abducted after two men posing as police officers visited the family home in the Herne Bay area, claimed the depot manager had had an accident, and asked the woman and her child to accompany them, at which point they were abducted.

The woman and child were also taken to the farm building at some stage during the night and the depot manager spoke to his wife at this location.

Both the depot manager, his wife and child were eventually taken to the security depot in Vale Road where the manager was forced to let one of the gang into the premises. The robber then threatened a member of staff at gunpoint and forced him to open a gate to allow the remaining members of the gang to arrive in a number of vehicles, including the Volvo car, a white van or lorry and also another saloon type car.

Some of the gang members were armed with handguns and some wore masks or balaclavas.

All 14 staff on duty, and the manager, his wife and son, were tied up and kept in a room while other gang members loaded a substantial sum of money into a white Renault lorry before leaving the premises at around 2.15am. Employees raised the alarm about an hour later.

Detectives are studying CCTV from the scene as part of the investigation.

Detailed forensic examination is also continuing at the depot throughout today as Kent Police searches for clues to the identity of the robbers.

It is now known that a mixture of both new and used banknotes were stolen by the robbers. However, while the amount of cash taken in the robbery is substantial and clearly a multi-million pound haul, the exact figure will not be known until Securitas staff can enter the depot to fully assess what has been stolen and this cannot happen until after scenes-of-crime officers have finished their examination.

Detectives are liaising with the National Criminal Intelligence Service and other agencies to ensure staff at ports and airports are on alert for anyone attempting to leave the country with large sums of cash.

Det Supt Gladstone continued: ‘I really want to know where the manager and his wife and son were taken after they were abducted and prior to the robbery taking place.

‘Also, as part of this investigation we are appealing for information from members of the public about the vehicles used in this robbery.

‘In particular we would be grateful to hear from anyone who saw the manager’s silver Nissan car being stopped on the A249, or who saw a Volvo or similar car link up with a white van or anyone who saw a white Renault lorry in the Tonbridge area in the early hours of Wednesday morning.’

Anyone with any information about this incident is asked to contact Kent Police on the special incident room hotline numbers - 01622 652361 or 01622 652366.

Alternatively people can ring Kent Crimestoppers free on 0800 555 111 and callers do not have to leave their name.