Five 'Pink Panther thieves arrested after another heist'

Five people have been arrested on suspicion of being members of the notorious "Pink Panther" gang of jewel thieves in Barcelona, police have said.

The men were arrested after they allegedly made their getaway following a robbery at a jewellery store on the city's famous Passeig de Gracia avenue.

One of the men was found carrying a gun.

Police said it took the thieves less than a minute to steal jewels worth £337,000, but were detained by a special operations unit who were waiting for them.

The men were of Serbian origin and were under joint surveillance with the collaboration of different crime units in Spain, Germany and Serbia.

According to Interpol, the "Pink Panther" gang carried out 380 armed robberies between 1999 and 2015, and stole jewels worth more than £282 million.

They got their nickname after a 2003 London robbery when a thief hid a diamond in a pot of beauty cream - similar to the plot of one of the Pink Panther movies about an inept French detective.