POLICE were today hunting a gang of robbers who rammed a Securitas cash van with a tractor in a dramatic armed raid.
The gang escaped with several hundred thousand pounds in the robbery in Warrington, Cheshire, last night.
The raid happened a fortnight after a gang stole £53m from a Securitas cash depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in Britain's biggest cash robbery.
No guards were injured in the Warrington attack, which also involved a low loader lorry used to force the van to stop.
The van was attacked in the Woolston area of the town at 8.15pm.
Insp Tony McEvitt, of Cheshire Constabulary, refused to give any indication of how much money was taken.
He said: "Any talk of figures is pure speculation.
"Due to the nature of the forensic examination of the vehicle, we can't categorically state if any money was taken, let alone how much."
But Securitas said several hundred thousand pounds was taken.
The van was attacked on Hardwick Grange.
Securitas spokesman Carl Courtney said "between a few and several hundreds of thousands of pounds"' were stolen.
"It was during a routine run," he said. "We are not, at the moment, prepared to give precise details of where."
Some cash was left at the scene, but he would not reveal how much due to the ongoing police investigation.
The two guards in the van were uninjured.
Mr Courtney said attacks on cash transit vans were on the increase. There were 836 attacks in 2005, he added.
All that remained at the scene of the robbery today was a small pile of shattered glass and burned debris from where a vehicle had been set alight.
A large polythene bag, rubber vehicle trim and a broken headlight were also visible on the pile, at the junction of Hardwick Grange and Kingsland Grange.
The roads are part of a sprawling industrial estate off the M6.
The van was ambushed between warehouses and a distribution depot for Safeway supermarkets.
