COPS HUNT pounds 600K VAN HEIST RAIDERS; Guards left shaken after armed gang take pounds 600k in van heist.

Byline: VICTORIA McMAHON

POLICE were last night hunting armed robbers who snatched pounds 600,000 in a cash van heist.

Three guards were delivering money to an ATM outside a Costcutter shop in Ardboe, Co Tyrone, when the raiders struck. Store manager Cathal Forbes said: "Everyone is pretty shaken up over it all. The staff are very shocked."

The pistol-brandishing gang burst into the Brinks security van and ordered the guards into the back, threatening them that they would be shot unless they did what they were told. The three robbers ordered the men to lie down and tied them up during the raid at Mullinahoe Road shortly after 6.30pm on Monday.

The gang then emptied the van of its bags of cash before making their getaway in a blue Ford Transit van and a red Rover. The security guards were uninjured from their ordeal but were extremely shaken.

Yesterday police had sealed off an old airfield in Ardboe where the van was found dumped and the Rover was discovered ditched at a car park near Ballyronan Marina overlooking the shores of Lough Neagh.

The ruthless robbers torched the vehicles to destroy any forensic or DNA evidence. Officers were seen examining the van, which had a flooring company's name in yellow letters on the side, and the ditched Rover for clues.

SDLP Assembly man Patsy McGlone condemned the robbery. He s a i d : " I would condemn this outright. It has caused severe distress to local people and the men delivering the money must have been through an awful experience.

"It seems like a very professional job, someone was definitely watching them." UUP Mid Ulster MLA Billy Armstrong added: "Whether the robbery was carried out by dissident republicans seeking to raise funds for terrorist activities, or by a gang with no terrorist links, the robbers are criminals who must be stopped.

"It is vital that people come forward and provide the PSNI with any information, however small, so that these people can be caught and convicted."