Teenagers on bail rob hundreds of security vans

Armed robberies are being carried out by teenagers out on bail for similar offences, a senior Met officer has revealed.

The robberies - known as cash-intransit heists - target guards in vans as they deliver or collect cash from building societies or bookmakers.

By 31 April last year the number of such attacks rose in the year by 131 per cent to 554. Three quarters were committed by thieves aged between 14 and 22.

Detective Superintendent Bob Cummings, head of Scotland Yard's Flying Squad, which is responsible for tackling robberies in the capital, told the Evening Standard that children who commit these crimes risk getting shot: "Our intelligence often shows there are firearms in these teenage gangs and so we are going out armed.

"The fact that they are so young generates new problems such as the granting of bail. We have had at least two cases recently of youngsters being bailed and then re-arrested for van attacks."