Dramatic pictures of the £53m Securitas depot heist in Tonbridge have been made public for the first time.

They show how Britain’s biggest cash robbery, in February last year, was carried out by masked men carrying guns.

Colin Dixon, a depot manager whose face has been obscured in the pictures, was kidnapped on his way home.

He was then told that his wife and young child had also been kidnapped - and he had to do what he was told if he wanted to see them again, the Old Bailey has heard.

The pictures, taken from close circuit television footage, show how he was driven to the depot and passed through the lobby.

Once inside, one man took out a gun and donned a mask. He held up the 14 employees as the other robbers, dressed in black and with balaclavas over their heads, crept in.

The terrified workers were threatened with death as they were held at gunpoint and tied up on the floor.

Then in the vault, the robbers were confronted with cages full of money. The jury, which has seen the footage, was told the robbers loaded as much as they could onto a lorry before driving off.

Car dealer John Fowler, 58, of Elderden Farm, Chart Hill Road, Staplehurst, Kent; car salesman Stuart Royle, 48, of Allen Street, Maidstone, Kent; unemployed Jetmir Bucpapa, 26, of Hadlow Road, Tonbridge; roofer Lea Rusha, 35, of Lambersart Close, Southborough, Kent; hairdresser Michelle Louise Hogg, 32, of Brinklow Crescent, Woolwich, south east London; garage owner Roger Coutts, 30, of The Green, Welling, south east London; and Emir Hysenaj, 27, a Post Office worker, of New Road, Crowborough, East Sussex, deny conspiracy to rob.

They have also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to kidnap mr Dixon, his wife and child, and conspiracy to possess firearms.

Signwriter Keith Borer, 53, of Hempstead Lane, Maidstone, Kent, denies handling stolen money. The trial continues.

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