Kent Police is appealing for the public’s help after an armed gang abducted a manager and his family and then robbed a security depot of millions of pounds in cash.

The gang, of at least six men, some wearing masks and carrying handguns, struck at the Securitas depot in Vale Road, Tonbridge, during the early hours of Wednesday morning (22 February).

They tied up the staff on duty and then loaded a substantial sum of money into a white lorry before leaving the premises at around 2.15am. Employees raised the alarm about an hour later.

No one was hurt during the robbery. The manager, his wife and child and depot staff were all found by police and are now recovering from their ordeal.

 Detective Superintendent Paul Gladstone, from Kent Police’s serious and organised crime unit said: ‘This was a traumatic ordeal for the manager of the security depot and his family and for all of the staff who worked there. They have all coped extremely well in the circumstances, when faced with threats and a gang of armed men.

‘It is vitally important that we hear from people who may have seen something suspicious or someone acting oddly either round the depot in Vale Road, or in any of the locations where this gang were operating in the time leading up to the robbery.

‘This was a clearly planned in detail over time – someone must have information that will help us in the hunt for the robbers.

‘A very substantial sum of money running into millions of pounds has been stolen and we are determined to bring the robbers to justice.’

Kent Police has established an incident room and there are two hotline numbers for people to call with information - 01622 652361 or 01622 652366.

The events leading up to the robbery started on Tuesday evening (21 February) when the depot manager was stopped at around 6.30pm as he drove home from work by what he believed was an unmarked police car. 

He was driving his silver Nissan Almera on the A249 north bound carriageway and had just passed the Three Squirrels public house near Stockbury (between Maidstone and Sittingbourne) when a car, possibly a Volvo, with blue lights in the radiator grill,pulled him over.

A passenger wearing a high visibility jacket and police style hat got out and spoke to the manager who, thinking these were genuine police officers, got into the Volvo car where they handcuffed him.

It is known that the Volvo car 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.

At about the same time as these events were unfolding the manager’s wife and young son were visited by two men who also said they were police officers and using the story that there had been an accident involving the manager, the family were taken from their home address in the Herne Bay area and held at an undisclosed location.

Meanwhile, some time after leaving the motorway the Volvo car carrying the handcuffed manager pulled up next to a white van. The manager was tied up and put into this van, which was then driven off to an as yet unknown location. There, the manager was threatened at gunpoint and told to co-operate or his family would be at risk.

At about 1.00am (Wednesday 22 February) the manager was taken by car to the security depot.  A white lorry also arrived at the depot.  At least six men, some of whom were armed, tied up the staff on duty and then loaded a substantial amount of money into the lorry before escaping.

Det Supt Gladstone continued: ‘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 7.5 tonne truck 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 one of two 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.