Three masked men entered security firm G4S’ depot from the roof but left the scene empty handed. A fourth man waited outside in a car. Johan Petersson, head of security at G4S, said the aborted heist was captured by security cameras.

The men entered the office section of the building but were unable to enter the vault where the cash is stored.

First they attempted to break in through the door. They then attempted to cut their way in. Eventually they used explosives in a final bid to grab the cash.

“They had quite a lot of time since the police were late arriving,” said Johan Pettersson.

Shortly after the failed raid a car was spotted speeding northwards along Smedjegatan in the town.

“The car hasn’t been found yet. We think the perpetrators were using it but we don’t currently have any concrete traces,” Birgitta Fast at Kronoberg police told news agency TT on Saturday morning.

Police set up road blocks and observation points in an attempt to apprehend the thieves, but the active search was called off during the night as police focused instead on internal intelligence gathering.

Birgitta Fast said the police were also seeking to make contact with any eventual witnesses.

Police in Växjö received an anonymous bomb threat at around the time of the raid. A number of objects placed outside the gates of the police station were found on Saturday morning not to have been bombs.

“They were shot at by technicians and removed. They weren’t bombs,” said police spokesman Robert Loefell.