Three suspects in Tuesday's Somerset bank robbery are expected to appear in court to be formally charged "at the earliest possible date'', Police said yesterday.

Police said yesterday that the third suspect -- a 30-year-old Devonshire man -- was apprehended at about 6 p.m. in Hamilton, eight hours after the hold-up at the Bank of Butterfield's Somerset branch.

Police said in a statement -- issued 17 hours after the man's arrest -- that the man was assisting them with their enquiries.

The third suspect joins two others who were arrested during a massive Police manhunt which took place in Somerset shortly after the hold-up in which a security guard was pistol-whipped.

Police said the public was not notified of the third arrest until the next day because "of the flurry of activity surrounding the rapid progression of events following the robbery''.

Police also confirmed yesterday that several items, including a handgun had been recovered during their investigation.

Seven detectives, headed by Ch. Insp. Carlton Adams, have been assigned to the case.

Police refused to reveal how much money was taken in the robbery, but said it had been recovered. The Royal Gazette understands that it was a five-figure sum.

Third man arrested The first suspect, a 24-year-old Somerset man, was arrested in the water off Sound View Road after a lady, who lived at Gwelly Lane, called Police to say she had seen a man climbing out of the water.

The man was taken into custody after he tried to swim away but eventually returned to land.

The second suspect, a 20-year-old Somerset man, was caught elsewhere in Somerset after a joint effort by the Police's Emergency Response Team, Marine Unit, Cycle Squad, K-9 Section and uniformed and plain clothed officers.

The arrests followed Tuesday morning's armed robbery when two men beat three bank security guards and made off with bags of cash.

Two masked robbers, entered a side entrance of the Bank of N.T. Butterfield at about 10.15 a.m. -- just as bank security officers were making a cash delivery.

The masked men, believed to be carrying guns, assaulted and incapacitated the two security guards making the delivery plus a third guard who was on duty at the bank.

Ch. Insp. Adams said the bandits did not discharge their guns, but used them to pistol whip the security guards before leaving with an undisclosed amount of money.

The robbers fled on foot when their getaway bike would not start. They fled through the bank's parking lot and onto East Shore Road.

Three security guards were hurt during the heist. Sixty-four-year-old Clayton Simmons -- the brother of former Bermuda Industrial Union president Ottiwell Simmons -- received a gash on the back of his head and a cut on his cheek.

Det. Chief Insp. Carlton Adams