A POST Office driver who claimed gunmen held him up and stole cash and jewellery worth £100,000 conspired with the robbers, a court heard yesterday.

Robert Johnson, 32, denies conspiracy to steal.

Former schoolmate Wayne Ramsey, 30, and Peter Stephenson, 25, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, at an earlier hearing.

Ian Graham, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court it was alleged that Mr Johnson, of The Parade, Biddick, Washington, told his two accomplices they could share the contents of the van while he claimed compensation from his employers.

Ramsey, of Queen's Street, Birtley, and Stephenson, of West Street, Birtley, allegedly stopped the van in Blagdon Street, Newcastle.

The 51 packages, which were due to be delivered to jewellers and travel agents, included foreign currency and expensive watches.

One bundle of foreign notes was as large as a brick Ramsey later told police, the court was told.

As Mr Johnson drove, the other two were in the back, ripping open the special delivery parcels and "were banging their heads off the top of the van in their excitement,"Mr Graham said.

After the others made off, Mr Johnson is said to have driven into a field and abandoned the van, before asking a resident for help, saying he had been held up at gunpoint.

Ramsey was arrested in March, last year, in Blackpool.

The case continues.