Inquiry ordered into 'security implications' of £4.6m robbery at Heathrow

The Government demanded a report yesterday into the serious breach of security at Heathrow airport that allowed two men to steal £4.6m in foreign currency from a British Airways security van.

The robbers may have had legitimate passes to give them access to a secure cargo loading area near terminal 4 on Monday where the money had just been taken off a jet from Bahrain. They attacked and bound a 35-year-old driver and escaped with eight cashboxes of money in another British Airways van. Police suspect it was an inside job.

In a joint statement last night from the Home Office and the Department of Transport, David Blunkett and Stephen Byers called for a report into the "domestic security implications" of Monday's raid. "The two ministers have asked authorities investigating the serious breach of airside security to report their findings to the Government as soon as possible," the statement said.

"Mr Blunkett, who is responsible for domestic security in the UK, and Mr Byers, responsible for aviation security, want to know how thieves managed to gain access to the airport's restricted zone during a period of heightened security in the wake of September 11."

After leaving the airport the two robbers drove two miles to Feltham where they transferred the money into a white van. They then set fire to the British Airways van. Police have issued descriptions of the two men. The first suspect is Asian, aged in his 20s or 30s and 5ft 11in tall. He is believed to have been the driver of the BA van used in the robbery. The second suspect is also Asian, in his early 40s, of medium to stocky build and clean-shaven. He had on a high-visibility British Airways jacket.

Detectives were continuing house-to-house inquiries last night and were examining CCTV footage from the area.

¿ Five men were arrested last night in connection with the theft of £Â£4.2m worth of mobile phones from a warehouse near Heathrow on Sunday. Officers raided an address in west London and recovered "several thousand" phones.