It seems, however, that their efforts may have been in vain. I had an email from the Leatherhead Drama Festival Organising Committee, reproduced with kind permission:

Sir Michael with the award (picture: Andy Newbold)

“We are at a loss as to why there is so much urgent panic to explain how the bullion would have been rescued. The coach featured in the “Italian Job” (1969) is still teetering on the edge…..of the “Sir Michael Caine Drama Award” trophy, a unique steel construction with an authentic coach which is still rocking, dangerously.  The Drama Award trophy is presented in May each year at the Leatherhead Drama Festival (in Surrey) by Sir Michael Caine himself (aka Charlie Croker).

“The trophy was designed and constructed by ‘Fire and Iron’ at Rowhurst Forge in North Leatherhead. The enclosed pictures show Sir Michael contemplating the coach on the cliff-edge and struggling with the trophy as he prepares to present it to the Winning Drama Group, recently.  How the coach was miraculously reduced in size and whether the gold is still intact within the coach has not been ascertained, but enquiries are still continuing.

“However, the present size of the haul and therefore its current value may render the extraction uneconomic.”

The photo, taken by Andy Newbold, is also reproduced with the kind permission of David Brett of the Leatherhead Drama Festival Organising Committee. Thank you David!