Bank worker held over Amex robbery

A woman bank worker has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in a series of robberies at American Express bureaus, including one where a manageress was taken hostage.

The woman, who is not being named and has worked at a number of branches of American Express, has been questioned on suspicion of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. There is no suggestion she was involved in carrying out the robberies.

On Thursday last week Central London was brought to a standstill when a man claimed to have a bomb strapped to his waist at the office in Haymarket.

Armed police were deployed around the building but the stand-off ended peacefully after five hours.

Detectives praised the 34-year-old manageress, who was taken hostage, for her calmness. She said: "I'm looking forward to getting back to normal and back to work as soon as possible."