Thick wall foils bank robbers

A break-in at a Bank of Valletta branch in Valletta was given up when the would-be robbers failed to make their way through an adjacent building, police said yesterday.

The attempted burglary at the Palace Square branch was discovered yesterday, but police believe it could have taken place days ago.

The discovery was made by a man who owns an uninhabited building in Strait Street. He got a nasty surprise yesterday morning when he went to inspect whether water had seeped into his premises following this week's storms.

He found out that someone had broken into the building and tried to go into the bank next door by removing stone slabs from the wall leading to the branch, police said.

Police said the break-in could have been attempted days ago, since the adjacent building is vacant and its owner only checks upon it haphazardly.

"There is literally a gaping hole in one of the walls. But the would-be burglars probably gave up when they realised the walls were way too thick to penetrate," police sources said.

"This was a rather uncommon way for a bank to be broken into, and whoever it was is definitely unaware of the top security systems found inside branches," the sources said.

A spokesman for Bank of Valletta said that any break-in would have triggered off the alarm system into the branch.

A court appointed expert was at the scene yesterday. Valletta district police are investigating the case.