TWO men have been charged in connection with a cash-in-transit theft which is believed to have involved a significant amount of money.

It is understood that an armoured van, belonging to Loomis International, was found abandoned in West View, Feltham at about 8.30am on Tuesday, March 14.

The suspects had reportedly fled the scene before the police arrived and the cash was missing from the truck.

A source told The Observer that the armoured van was carrying as much as £7 million - possibly belonging to Suisse Bank - from Heathrow Terminal 4 to the Loomis depot in Shepperton, Surrey.

The van reportedly disappeared just 10 to 15 minutes into the journey before it was discovered in the quiet residential road in Feltham at 8.30am.

The source, who did not want to be named, said: “The flying squad arrived at West View and said ‘open the door - you are surrounded - but nothing happened.

“Then a Loomis employee turned up and tried to open the van with a key but they found no one in there and no money in there.”

The Metropolitan Police have not confirmed the quantity stolen or whether it has been recovered.

Two men from Slough have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police in connection with the incident.

Mohammed Siddique, 31, of Belgrave Road and Ranjeev Singh, 40, of Grampian Way, both Slough, were charged with conspiracy to steal and appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, March 16.

They have been remanded in custody to appear at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday, April 11.

A spokesman for Loomis declined to comment but said it was his understanding that the two men were employees of the company.