THE full story of the dramatic events surrounding Wednesday's unprecedented multi-million pound cash robbery at a Securitas depot in Tonbridge has begun to emerge.

While the six-man armed gang behind the record heist are still on the run with up to £50million stolen during the raid at the premises in Vale Road, detectives are piecing together a clearer picture of events leading up to the robbery.

The drama began on Tuesday night as Securitas depot manager Colin Dixon was stopped by two men posing as policeman, while driving home in his Nissan Almera along the A249 between Maidstone and Sittingbourne.

The men, who wore high visibility jackets and police style caps, were driving a Volvo saloon disguised as an unmarked police vehicle with blue lights in its radiator grille.

It is thought the car was the same Volvo saloon found burning in Burberry Lane in Leeds, near Maidstone, on Thursday night.

Mr Dixon was then handcuffed and driven some distance before being transferred to a van or lorry and driven to rural location.

Meanwhile, in Herne Bay, two other members of the gang, also posing as police officers, knocked at the door of Mr Dixon’s home and told his wife, Lynn, that her husband had been involved in an accident. They then forced her and the couple’s then eight-year-old son into a waiting vehicle and drove off.

Somewhere in the Faversham area they were transferred to a red van and taken to the same location as Mr Dixon. Police think the van is the same as the one with Parcelforce markings found abandoned at the Hook and Hatchet pub in Hucking, near Maidstone, on Thursday.

Colin and Lynn Dixon were briefly reunited at the robbers’ rural liaison point, before the mother and son were driven away in the white Renault lorry to the Securitas depot in Tonbridge. Mr Dixon was taken in a separate vehicle to the site shortly before 1.30am on Wednesday.

Armed and masked, the raiders then threatened and tied up 14 staff members before loading cash into the white lorry.

Detectives are hoping there could be witnesses to the events leading up to the robbery.

Assistant Chief Constabel Adrian Leppard said: "People may also have seen the changeover when Mrs Dixon and their son were transferred to the red van near Faversham.

"Maybe someone in a rural area saw unusual activity nearby. Please think back, for however trivial something may seem to you, it could be an important piece in the jigsaw to help us solve this crime and catch a gang of dangerous criminals."

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