By Brendan Anderson

AT least £20 million in cash has been stolen during the largest bank robbery in the North’s history, it was revealed Tuesday.

In a well-planned operation spanning dozens of miles, the families of two of the Northern Bank’s top executives were taken hostage and imprisoned for 24 hours.

The two men were forced to attend work as usual on Monday at the headquarters of the Northern Bank close to City Hall in the center of Belfast. Members of the heist gang held the men’s families at their homes in Dunmurry on the outskirts of the city and at the village of Loughinisland, Co. Down.

When the bank closed for business Monday, a truck was driven to the rear of the building and the cash transferred from a vault. The Northern Bank headquarters acts as a clearing office for the company’s 95 branches in the North, and it is understood the vault on occasions contains up to £30 million. The families of the executives were released at 11:45 p.m. on Monday as news of the robbery was breaking. No one was injured but one person was treated for hypothermia.

The robbery took place during one of the busiest shopping weeks of the business year in Belfast, and large amounts of cash have been pouring into the bank in recent days. The clearing center also receives newly-printed notes which it then sorts and distributes.

The exact amount taken was not clear late Tuesday, but senior policeman Assistant Chief Constable Sam Kincaid said after talking to bank bosses that early estimates put the figure at £20 million at least.

Ironically, a few days ago the Northern Bank, which is owned by the National Australia Bank and controls 30% of the market in the North, was sold to Denmark’s biggest bank, Danske. The take-over, however, is not due to be finalized for several weeks and it will be the National Australia Bank which will have to foot the bill.

A bank spokesman said the robbery would not impact on the £967 million take-over by Danske Bank.

“Although the take-over has been announced, we expect it will not be formally completed until the middle of February. This means that at this point Northern is still owned by National Australia Bank rather than by Danske,” he said.