A gang disguised as policemen pulled off a brazen heist at Johannesburg's international airport late on Tuesday night, stealing at least £1.5 million in cash as it was loaded onto a South African Airways plane bound for London.

At least eight robbers, all of them wearing police uniforms, drove to the plane in an unmarked police van and two high powered vehicles and held up security guards as the money, made up of various currencies and carried in bags, was being loaded onto the airplane at around 7.45 pm.

No shots were fired during the heist and no injuries were reported, according the Airports Company of South Africa. The robbers used access cards to open gates and gain access to the tarmac. They then escaped through the same entrance at the OR Tambo International airport with blue lights flashing on their vehicles. The airlines said the heist could be an inside job as it happened in an area of the airport only cleared for personnel with the appropriate access tags.