Bank raids up by 20%

BANK and building society robberies increased by 12 per cent last year, with half the raids taking place in four areas, a union said yesterday.

There were 940 raids on building societies and 842 on banks. The total was double that of 1989, according to the Banking, Insurance and Finance Union (Bifu), and the number of bank robberies was up 20 per cent on 1991.

The worst hit areas in the figures, based on reports from employees, news and police sources, were London (30 per cent), West Midlands (8 per cent), Greater Manchester (8 per cent) and Avon (4 per cent).