British woman was beaten up by masked robbers in Spain and held hostage for seven hours as they stole £270,000 of gold from the jewellers where she works.

The gang had broken into her home close to Alfaz del Pi outside Benidorm and waited for the 61 year old to return from work.

They pushed her and hit her around the face and frightened her into handing over the alarm code and keys to the business.

One of the men then stood guard over her while three accomplices made several trips to the shop to steal the gold.


Ordeal: The British woman, who has lived in Spain for many years, was held captive for seven hours. She is now recovering in a town near Benidorm, pictured

The men who all wore balaclavas when they attacked the woman fled more than seven hours later after warning their victim not to call police.

An unnamed neighbour told a local paper: 'She's in an awful state.

'Her upper lip is badly bruised from blows she's received.'

Last night she was being comforted by her employers. She did not need hospital treatment.

The robbers are thought to have targeted their victim after putting the jewellers under surveillance and seeing she had keys.

They broke into her flat just a short walk from the shop by gaining access to an empty apartment next to hers while she was out at work and smashing a hole through the wall to reach her property.

The robbery took place on Monday night. But by 10am the following day four suspects, a 36-year-old Spaniard and three Romanians aged 25, 27, and 33, were arrested in Madrid after a national police alert was put out.

Officers say all the gold taken in the robbery, valued at nearly £270,000, was recovered from one of two cars the men were travelling in.

The four are also being questioned over an earlier robbery in Gandia near the eastern Spanish city of Valencia.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Alicante said: 'The British victim was taken hostage in her own home around 9.15pm on Monday when she came home from work.

'Four men wearing balaclavas were waiting for her after breaking into an empty flat next to hers and making a hole in the wall to access her apartment.

'They intimidated her by pushing her and we believe she was also slapped around the face.

'They forced her into handing over the keys to the jewellers and the code to disable the alarm.

'One of the men then stayed with her while the other three made a series of trips to the jewellers to steal valuables.

'The man watching her over disappeared around 4am so she her ordeal lasted for around seven hours.

'Their victim is obviously very traumatised although she didn't need hospital treatment.'

The spokesman added: 'This gang was obviously very professional.

'We believe they identified her as someone with keys to the jewellers after watching the shop and then proceeded to build up a picture of her life and movements.

'The fact they were prepared to go to the lengths they did to carry out this robbery suggests they would have been prepared to use any means and any violence necessary to achieve their aims.'

The robbery victim is thought to have moved to Spain several years ago.

She lives alone and speaks perfect Spanish. It is not known where in Britain she is originally from.