LONDON (AFP) - A gang who carried out Britain's biggest-ever cash robbery disguised themselves as police to kidnap a manager at the security store where the money was held and escape with the cash, a court heard Tuesday.

London's Central Criminal Court was told that the manager was tricked into stopping his car as he drove home from the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, south-east England, and was forced at gunpoint to drive to an isolated farm.

Prosecutors said he was interrogated about the site and its security arrangements. His wife and child were then tricked into believing he had been in an accident and taken by disguised gang members to the same farm.

The Securitas raid on February 22 last year saw 53 million pounds (78.6 million euros, 105.9 million dollars) taken from the depot, which stored cash for banks, including Britain's central bank, the Bank of England.

Outlining the prosecution case against the eight defendants, lawyer John Nutting said the robbers were motivated by "greed, pure and simple" and the prospect of "dishonest gain almost beyond the dreams of avarice".

He said "there is nothing very courageous about kidnapping women and small children," but in doing so they sapped the will of the manager they needed to carry off the heist.

Nutting said the raid, carried out by an armed balaclava-clad gang and helped by an insider, saw 14 members of staff threatened at gunpoint and told: "You will die if you do not do as you are told."

Many were still traumatised, he added.

Seven of the defendants -- car dealer John Fowler, 58; car salesman Stuart Royle, 48; unemployed Jetmir Bucpapa, 26; roofer Lea Rusha, 35; hairdresser Michelle Louise Hogg, 32; garage owner Roger Coutts, 30; and 27-year-old post office worker Emir Hysenaj deny charges of conspiracy to rob.

They have also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to possess firearms.

The eighth defendant -- signwriter Keith Borer, 53 -- denies handling stolen money. All those charged come from London and south-east England.

The jury was told two men are currently in custody in Morocco and are due to stand trial next year with three women. Police were still looking for two men who disappeared after the robbery