A HEIST-themed wine bar could open at the site of the notorious £25million Hatton Garden raid, with punters able to pose beside the infamous hole in the wall.
Planning bosses are considering proposals to turn the building targeted by the gang into a tourist attraction and nightlife hotspot.
10
10
The audacious Easter 2015 raid saw the so-called “Diamond Wheezers” drill through a 20-inch concrete wall before ransacking 73 safety deposit boxes.
Ringleaders Brian Reader, 76, John Collins, 74, Daniel Jones, 58, and Terry Perkins, 67, disguised themselves as workers before carrying out the break-in.
Up to £29million in cash and jewellery was hauled away in wheelie bins.
The extraordinary burglary later inspired the Sir Michael Caine film King of Thieves.
READ MORE: UK News
heartbreaking loss
Devastated ITV chef reveals her husband was killed ‘in a robbery’
GUN TERROR
Brit YouTuber held at gunpoint in £1.4m robbery at luxury villa while on holiday
10
10
Now, the glitzy new bar proposal would put the notorious hole in the wall and broken door gate at the centre of the venue.
Plans have been submitted by landlord Pearl & Coutts, with the scheme set to displace existing businesses including long-standing jeweller E Katz and Co.
The landlord says the venue would even offer daytime tours of the vault where the gang carried out their raid.
Pearl & Coutts said it would “provide the opportunity for tours of the vault and scene of the heist to the general public during the day”.
Most read in The Sun
MEGA MONEY
US Powerball jackpot reaches £90million — I found a hack to play 10 lines for £1
BOAT TRAGEDY
Baby among 80 found dead on small boat off Canary Islands after 26 days at sea
GREEN LIGHT
Zack Polanski confirms he will run for Keir Starmer’s seat in by-election
10
10
10
10
They also claim the bar would “complement the jewellery sector, providing visitors and shoppers with an opportunity to stay in the area after their business is done”.
But jeweller George Katz has slammed the plans as “ghoulish” and “completely inappropriate”.
He said: “It is ghoulish and completely inappropriate.
“A lot of people lost their livelihoods in the 2015 robbery.
“Most people didn’t have insurance as safe deposits are supposed to be rock solid; they are nearly impossible to get into.
“People had such a setback. I believe one person actually took their own life because his whole business was ruined.”
George’s son-in-law Robert Willis, who is preparing to take over the business, also hit out at the plans.
He said: “It makes a mockery of our trade, making fun of and fantasising over this despicable burglary.”
10
10
The Katz family has deep roots in the area, with George’s firm moving to London after his father Emil fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939.
More than 100 local residents have also objected to the proposed bar over fears about noise and disturbance.
The pensioner-led gang spent years plotting the raid at the Castle pub on nearby Pentonville Road.
Reader, dubbed the gang’s “Guv’nor”, and the other ringleaders were caught around six weeks after the heist.
They were eventually jailed for a combined 50 years.
Reader, a professional robber estimated to have stolen around £200million during his criminal career, died aged 83 in September 2023.
Camden Council said it was committed to protecting Hatton Garden’s established jewellery trade.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
A spokesperson said: “Hatton Garden has been an established centre for the jewellery industry since the nineteenth century, and we seek to secure new premises suitable for jewellery workshops and related uses and protect them through planning obligations.
“We also seek to protect existing business uses.”