THE jury in the £53million Securitas cash heist has been shown CCTV images of a white van containing nearly £1.4million in cash and a pistol being dumped in the car park of a Kent hotel.

During evidence given by PC Martin Mason, the Old Bailey heard how two days after the raid on the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, police discovered a white Ford Transit van in the car park of the Ashford International Hotel.

Inside the van they found two suitcases and a black holdall. One suitcase contained £825,500 in bundles of £50, £20 and £10 notes and the other held £545,000 in bundles of £10 notes, making a total of £1,370,500.

The prosecution previously told the court that some of the cash was still bound in Securitas wrappers. Police also discovered a Skorpion machine pistol and magazine, a black woollen balaclava and a ballistic vest.

Earlier in the hearing, the prosecution told the court that DNA from the defendant Jetmir Bucpapa was found on the handle of one of the suitcases while DNA from defendant Lea Rusha was discovered on the balaclava.

The court saw how the van was driven into the car park just after 11am on Friday, February 24, 2006. A man was seen emerging from the van and later lingering around the reception of the hotel and the car park.

The court heard how PC Martin Mason and another officer were first on the scene and how PC Mason was the first to enter the van.

Both Graeme Wilson, representing Lee Rusha, and Charles Conway, representing Jetmir Bucpapa , pressed PC Mason on the fact that he did not wear gloves when he made his intitial search. This, he admitted when pushed, could have contaminated the crime scene.

Lea Rusha, of Lambersart Close, Southborough; Stuart Royle, of Allen Street, Maidstone; Jetmir Bucpapa, of Hadlow Road, Tonbridge; Roger Coutts, of The Green, Welling; John Fowler, of Chart Hill Road, Staplehurst; Ermir Hysenaj, of New Road, Crowborough; and Michelle Hogg, of Brinklow Crescent, Woolwich, have all pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to have in their possession a firearm.

A seventh man, Keith Borer, from Hampstead Lane, Yalding, stands accused of dishonestly receiving £6,100 of stolen Securitas money, which he denies.

The case continues.