Robbed Securitas van is examined

Police are trying to find out where the car has been for the past year

Forensic investigators are examining a Securitas van from which £600,000 was stolen by masked raiders.

Examinations of a tractor and flatbed lorry used to ram and trap the van in Warrington, Cheshire, on Wednesday night have now been concluded.

Two men used crowbars to wrench the security van's windows off before setting the lorry in front alight.

The raid at Hardwick Grange industrial estate, Woolston, came two weeks after £53m was stolen from a depot in Kent.

A Volvo V40 car, thought to have been used as a getaway vehicle, was recovered after the robbery at 2015 BMT. It was stolen from the Tinshill area of Leeds last May.

Detectives on Friday appealed for anyone with any knowledge of the vehicle's whereabouts since last year to come forward.

Cheshire Police said 11 cash bags were stolen from the van

Det Ch Insp Judi Heaton said: "The investigation is very much active and police have received a good response from the public so far.

"We still need people to contact us if they have any information that can assist the enquiry.

"I would like to reiterate that at this stage there is nothing to suggest any link to the recent robbery at the Securitas depot in Kent."

Cheshire Police have also revealed that 11 large cash bags, each containing smaller bags, were taken in the raid. They contained between £500,000 and £600,000.

Attacks increase

The white flatbed Volvo V60 lorry and red Massey Ferguson tractor used by the gang were stolen from the same premises in Wilberfoss, near York, on Tuesday.

A dark-coloured Audi estate car was seen being driven away from the area and may also have been a getaway car.

Detectives said it was "a carefully planned and well executed operation", although a certain amount of cash was left at the scene as the raiders fled.

Securitas spokesman Carl Courtney said attacks on cash transit vans were on the increase. There were 836 attacks in 2005, he said.

Cheshire Police are appealing for anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area to contact them or call the Crimestoppers line.