Two men freed in bank notes probe

A large quantity of Northern Bank notes were seized

Two men arrested after £42,000 was recovered in County Down have been released on police bail.

The money was found after a large number of £100 Northern Bank notes were spent at a County Armagh shopping centre at the weekend.

Police said the money was not linked to last month's £26.5m robbery at the Northern Bank head office in Belfast.

They said they believed the notes recovered were linked to other possible money laundering offences.

Retailers in Portadown confirmed that a number of people tried to buy low value items, such as magazines, with high denomination notes on Sunday.

Vigilance urged

It was believed as much as £6,000 in £100 notes was taken at the Rushmere Centre.

Staff became suspicious and phoned the police.

Two houses and business premises in Banbridge were searched on Monday morning and £42,000 was recovered.

It is understood a large proportion of the money was in Northern Bank notes.

Police have appealed to shopkeepers and businesses to be vigilant.

The Northern Bank has already announced plans to remove almost its entire issue of notes from circulation in a bid to thwart the gang who looted the underground bunker at its cash distribution centre on 20 December.

Police service chief constable Hugh Orde, blaming the IRA for the raid on Friday, said that the withdrawal of the notes from circulation made the raid the biggest robbery of "wastepaper" in history.