Thieves break into security boxes in Hatton Garden. They made off with millions of pounds worth of gems. Photo / Supplied
A 76-year-old second-hand car dealer and his son, 50, are among the nine men who were arrested by police as part of the Hatton Garden gem heist raids today, it has been revealed.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police were seen outside the home of Brian Reader in Dartford, Kent, this morning despite it being outside their patch, neighbours said.
It was part of a raid by 200 officers of 12 addresses across Kent and London and the force has revealed it arrested nine men on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle - three of whom are pensioners.
The eldest person arrested is Reader senior and the youngest is a 43-year-old from north London, which means together the arrested men have a combined age of 533.
A neighbour living close to the luxury property owned by Reader, worth around £750,000, said: "I heard it was a father and son who were arrested.
"They live in a big house and keep themselves to themselves. They don't talk to anybody round here."
Scotland Yard confirmed two men - aged 76 and 50 - were arrested in Dartford at around the same time but said it would not comment any further "for operational reasons".
The 50-year-old is believed to be Reader's son, Brian but who goes by the name Paul, and reports suggest the pair run a second hand car dealership together from their home, called Pentire Cars.
Detectives also revealed they have recovered "high value goods", thought to be items taken during the heist.
Two men from north London, aged 58 and 43, were held on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle.
Earlier it was announced that four men aged 67, 74, 58, and 48 were arrested in Enfield, north London, while a 59-year-old man was detained in east London.
The development in the case comes almost two months after thieves ransacked 72 safety deposit boxes in an audacious £60million raid over the Easter weekend in London's jewellery quarter.
A police statement said: "A number of large bags containing significant amounts of high value property have been recovered from one address."
All nine men, arrested on suspicion of conspiring to steal, have been taken to a London police station while searches continue at the 12 addresses.
Police also admitted today that they were called from the scene around the time the raid is thought to have started but did not attend.
Commander Peter Spindler said: "On this occasion the systems and processes that we have in place with the alarm companies weren't followed. And as a result of that officers did not attend the premises when in fact they probably should have done; and for that I want to apologise.
"However, the keyholders were notified about alarm activation and the security officer was sent to the premises.
"That security officer saw what our officers would have seen had they deployed; which was a multi-occupancy building on eight floors where in fact the premises would have appeared secure and no alarm was sounding.
"We have an ongoing review into the defeat of the alarm. We're going to work very closely with the alarm industry to make sure that this doesn't happen again."