Guardia Civil officers based in Alicante have arrested eleven members of a gang accused of 34 violent hold-ups carried out between April 2006 and March 2007 on banks in Granada, Málaga, Murcia, Alicante, Cuenca, Madrid and Burgos that netted the robbers around three quarters of a million euros.

The robbers - nine Italians, one Belgian and one Spaniard - were traced to Marbella, where they were found to be enjoying an extravagant lifestyle, staying in luxury accommodation and driving round in expensive cars.

Two of the gang - one Italian and one Spaniard - were apprehended in Madrid at the start of last year as the gang was poised to strike and three others - two Italians and one Belgian - were arrested following a bungled attack in Alicante province last March.

Following these arrests it emerged that most of the rest of the gang had fled to Naples, but the remaining members of the gang have since been arrested in Naples, Málaga and Marbella based on information supplied by the Italian police.