‘MP from 888, local units can move in. Is India 99 in the air?’ Kingston asked, referring to the police helicopter’s call sign.

‘No, at present 99 is refuelling, but should be airborne shortly.’

Kingston threw the radio mike against the dashboard.

‘Fuck it. They’ll be well on their toes before we get there!’

‘Central 888, update from MP. Call received for an ambulance to Barclays Bank, Leytonstone . . . One man shot in stomach by an armed suspect.’

The Colonel punched the roof of the car.

‘Bastards. If I get my hands on ’em I’ll fuckin’ kill ’em!’

*

As the two armed robbers jumped into the Cortina, the unarmed man put the Securicor cash box in a travel bag in the back of the vehicle and got in. The driver knew from experience the ‘Old Bill’ would use the main streets, so he decided to take the back roads and drive within the speed limit. As he indicated right, to turn into Grove Road from the High Road, two uniformed officers in a marked Rover 3500 V8 police car came flying past in the opposite direction, sirens blaring and blue lights flashing. The unarmed man looked over his shoulder, out of the rear window, and saw the brake lights of the police car come on as it skidded to a sudden halt and started to do a U-turn.

‘They’ve seen us – put your foot down and get us out of here,’ he said calmly.

The driver pressed the accelerator hard and turned right across the path of an oncoming car, which swerved across the road and hit another vehicle head-on in the inside lane.

‘This car’s not as powerful as theirs. Maybe we should take a side street down here and bale out while they can’t see us,’ the man with the shotgun suggested.

As the driver approached the junction with Mornington Road, he looked in his rear-view mirror and saw the police car in the distance.

‘That ain’t an option, they’re closing on us.’

He drove straight across the junction into Woodville Road without stopping. An oncoming car clipped the rear of the Cortina, knocking the bumper off and causing the car to judder and swerve erratically. The driver gripped the steering wheel hard to maintain control, but the Cortina sideswiped a parked car and careered across the road. Left with no alternative, the driver hit the brakes hard and skidded across the road, towards a parked car. The four men lurched forward as the car came to an abrupt halt inches from another vehicle. The man with the Luger smashed his head on the front windscreen, causing a deep cut to his forehead, which began to bleed heavily through his stocking mask.

‘Fuck dis for a game of soldiers,’ he said in a broad Irish accent, and got out of the car.

‘Get back in or I’ll go without you!’ the driver shouted.