POLICE are investigating a major heist at a West Lothian security depot which saw thieves make off with £235,000.
The cash was stolen from the Sunwin Services Group (SSG) premises in Broxburn, with the thieves un
derstood to have used keys and pass codes to carry out the raid.
An investigation is now underway into the security breach at the facility, which holds money for the Co-operative Group's cash machines.
A spokesman for SSG said: "We confirm that an amount of cash was stolen from our Broxburn depot on Friday evening and we are co-operating with the police in their investigation.
"We are undertaking a full review of our security following the incident."
The depot is based in Freskyn Place at the East Mains Industrial Estate and is known to have tight security. Police are investigating how the thieves obtained the keys and codes.
Police have also appealed for any witnesses to come forward. The theft happened between 8pm and 10pm on Good Friday.
Workers from R&J Strang at a nearby unit on the industrial estate were shocked after hearing about the robbery.
Declan Henderson was working on Friday night at around the time of the heist. He said: "We supply the tyres for their trucks and our guys are in there all the time.
"Security is very tight and you can't walk anywhere in there without being on camera so whoever done it must have known this and how to sort that out.
"There is usually activity there until about 10pm and I think there's usually engineers there all the time for call-outs in case they need to fix the ATMs, but you never see any vans at that time of night."
He added: "I received a phone call from head office on Sunday asking if our CCTV cameras were operational but they aren't."
Another worker said: "We've all been inside and there are two security doors that operate separately so you can't get in or out without the other one.
"It's a bit of a shock to hear what's happened and how much money is involved."
A police spokesman said an investigation was ongoing.
"Police are investigating the theft of a six-figure sum of money from a business premises in Broxburn. The theft happened sometime between 8pm and 10pm last Friday.
"Anyone with any information should contact police immediately."
The Co-op declined to comment.
Based in Bradford, SSG operates a number of security depots across the UK, collecting and delivering cash for customers, as well as paperwork and company documents.
The firm has accredited status with the Security Industry Authority's contractor (SIA) scheme, which ensures security businesses employ trained and vetted staff.
SSG also has engineers who maintain ATM machines.
