Four arrested in robbery operation

Cash vans are tracked by the police helicopter

Four people have been arrested in Merseyside by police investigating robberies on cash vans.

A team of 60 officers were involved in the raids on nine addresses on Wednesday.

A 32-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman were arrested at an address in Litherland, and a man aged 53 and another woman were arrested at an address in Bootle.

The raids are part of operation guardian, to safeguard security vehicles used to transport money.

Helicopter tracking

Police use high-visibility vehicles, the force helicopter and covert patrols to protect the vans.

The helicopter uses return journeys from other jobs to follow the vans, using state-of-the-art thermal imaging equipment.

Inspector Paul Richardson, from the Merseyside Police Robbery Reduction Unit, said: "Through the street crime initiative, we have made a huge impact in reducing robbery in Merseyside.

"We are determined to extend this success to identifying and arresting those whom we believe are involved in cash-in-transit and business robberies.

"The public should expect further raids, as operation guardian continues well into the New Year."