Cashier spots notes from £22m raid

Two employees of the bank were held captive

Two £20 notes passed at the Dundonald Ice Rink were some of those stolen in the Northern Bank robbery, a council official has said.

Police have so far refused to comment on the matter.

However, Castlereagh Borough Council spokesperson Jill Simpson said their serial numbers matched numbers issued by the bank after the raid.

Robbers stole £22m from the bank's city centre vaults on 20 December.

"It does have one of the serial numbers that we were issued with from the bank," said Ms Simpson.

"Someone tried to pass it over and on checking it our senior cashier raised the alarm."

On Thursday, police investigating the robbery searched commercial premises in the west of the city.

Nothing was found during the search at the Blackstaff complex off the Springfield Road.

Held hostage

Earlier this week, detectives finished searching the homes of two bank officials.

The two families had to spend Christmas away from their houses in Poleglass and Loughinisland after they were preserved as crime scenes.

The robbers stole millions from the vaults of the bank in Donegall Square West as the families of the two bank officials were held hostage.

The bank officials are Kevin McMullan from Downpatrick and Chris Warde from Colinmill in Poleglass.

Police have searched premises in north and west Belfast

On Monday, detectives carried out a fresh search of the Warde family home in the Poleglass area of Belfast.

On Christmas Eve, a search team took a number of items away for forensic examination.

The bank raid is thought to have been one of the UK's biggest cash robberies.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has said the possible involvement of paramilitaries is a "key line of inquiry".

But the IRA has denied involvement in the robbery.

Meanwhile, Northern Bank bosses may withdraw all the bank's notes.