Police seize serial bank robber in Oxford St

Serial offender: undercover Flying Squad officers arrested the suspected armed robber as he was about to strike at an Oxford Street bank

Police arrested a suspected serial armed robber as he was about to strike at a bank in Oxford Street.

The 35-year-old man was seized in front of dozens of shoppers seconds before he entered the Citibank branch on the corner of New Bond Street.

Armed officers from the Met's Flying Squad intervened just before 5pm yesterday after carrying out a covert surveillance operation.

Detectives are linking the arrest to 11 armed robberies on banks and building societies in central London dating back to September last year.

In all of the hold-ups the robber threatened staff with what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun, saying that he would shoot employees and customers unless the bank handed over cash.

Police recovered what they described as a "highly realistic" imitation firearm in yesterday's arrest.

The raider is believed to have stolen at least £26,000 in the series of robberies in which he made little attempt to disguise his identity.

Undercover Flying Squad officers, some of them armed, moved in just before 5pm as the man was about to enter the bank.

The 35-year-old man was being interviewed at a central London police station this afternoon.

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