Armed raid on Securicor van

Armed robbers have stolen as much as £1million in a daring daylight raid on a security van.

A man brandishing a gun forced two Securicor guards, one male and one female, inside their van before tying up the man and sitting the woman in the front.

Although it is not clear who was driving the van, it followed a car to a deserted spot about six miles from where the guards were ambushed.

They were then dumped along with the van and the robbers transferred the cash into their car before fleeing. The raid began outside a busy parade of shops in Horsham, West Sussex, at about 9am yesterday.

While returning to their van after stopping for a drink, the Securicor guards were ambushed by a man carrying a gun. The male security guard suffered bruising to his eye as he was tied up, though neither he nor the female guard was seriously injured.

When the van reached a remote spot in Faygate, West Sussex, it was abandoned with the guards still inside while the robbers drove off in the car it had been following.

As soon as they escaped from the van, the guards raised the alarm and police launched a helicopter to try to track the robbers.

A police spokesman said: "It is believed a large sum of money was stolen in this raid and the two security guards were taken to Crawley Hospital for medical checks.

"It appears the robbers transferred the money from the van into the car before driving away."

Detectives refused to confirm the amount stolen but Securicor has offered a reward of £100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the robbers.

Police today appealed for witnesses to come forward with information. Detective Inspector Steve Johns, heading the investigation, said: "This was a violent attack. We would like to hear from anybody who has information about the offenders or who has actually seen the offence taking place.

"It is believed a green S-Reg hatchback-style 216 Series Rover was used by the offenders during the robbery."