The Metropolitan Police has come under fire after it emerged officers initially failed to go to the scene of the Hatton Garden jewel heist despite a burglar alarm going off.
A security firm had contacted the force about an intruder alert at the safe deposit company shortly after midnight on Good Friday.
But the call was graded in a way that meant officers did not consider it worthy of a response.
And it was not until Tuesday morning, following the four-day bank holiday Easter weekend, that the raid - one of Britain's biggest - was discovered.
The Met is now investigating why the force did not respond to the alarm activated as the heist was thought to be getting under way.
Police insisted it was too early to say if the handling of the call about the alert would have had an impact on the outcome.
But the revelations have led to anger from potential victims who spoke of their shock that the police "just weren't there".
Millions of pounds worth of gems were thought to have been stolen in the raid in London's jewellery district.
Michael Miller, from Knightsbridge, who may have lost £50,000 in uninsured jewellery, said: "I am just so shocked and disappointed to hear the police didn't answer that alarm.
"I mean before, we thought maybe the police didn't even know about that but now we know that they knew something was wrong.
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