DETECTIVES investigating a string of armed bank robberies committed since December 2002 in the Midlands and North West have arrested two men.

A 29-year-old was detained in Merseyside, and a 40-year-old in Milton Keynes. Both were arrested in the early hours of Thursday, May 15, and are due to be brought to Staffordshire for questioning.

The inquiry -- codenamed Operation Robust -- involves Staffordshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Thames Valley, Greater Manchester, West Mercia and Warwickshire police forces, who have been investigating 11 incidents including bank raids this year at Lloyds TSB, Leyland, on March 18 and Nat West bank, Ashton, Preston, on May 1.