Britain’s Biggest Heists returns to Crime & Investigation Network next week with another look at some of the most audacious robberies in the history of the UK.
Each episode of the 8-part series includes dramatic re-enactments and interviews with those who took part in, or witnessed, the crimes.
The series kicks off with a look at the 1971 heist at Lloyds Bank which inspired the 2008 movie Bank Job.
On a Saturday night in 1971 a gang of thieves tunnelled for 40ft into the vault of Lloyds Bank on Baker Street, central London.
The robbers communicated via walkie-talkie and the signal was picked up by an amateur radio enthusiast, Robert Rowlands who reported the conversation to the police.
A check of 700 banks failed, with Lloyds on Baker Street being one of those checked. With the vault door undisturbed, police assumed there was no other way of entry and left. The thieves gained entry through a 15 inch hole.
Scrawled inside the safe, the criminals left the words: “Let Sherlock Holmes try to solve this”. Four men were jailed in 1973 for their roles in the robbery.
Thursdays from 20th October at 8pm
