Hatton Garden heist: Four men plead guilty to involvement in theft of £10 million in valuables

Thieves broke into a vault over the Easter bank holiday weekend

More than 70 safety boxes were raided and discarded in a pile (Metropolitan Police)

Four men have admitted helping plan an audacious heist in London's jewellery quarter that saw £10 million of jewels and valuable disappear.

John Collins, 74, Daniel Jones, 58, Terry Perkins, 67, and Brian Reader, 76, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle at Woolwich Crown Court in connection with the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit raid over Easter.

The men, all from London and Kent, were supported by their friends and family in the court and will be sentenced at a later date.

Thieves used a heavy duty drill to bore huge holes through a vault's concrete wall to ransack more than 70 safety deposit boxes.

The Metropolitan Police was heavily criticised for its handling of the case after it emerged that an alert sent to Scotland Yard after an intruder alarm sounded was ignored, sparking an internal review.

Additional reporting by PA