An 'armed' robber who tried to escape four armed police units by jumping on a rural bus has been jailed.

Simon Andrew North, 38, botched his attempt to rob a Halifax Bank and decided to escape - by running on a bus.

Police officers simply checked the buses leaving the North Yorkshire town of Whitby until they got their man. Hopeless robber North had entered the town's Halifax at about 2.30pm on June 29 and hung around waiting for a customer to leave.

Making no attempt to disguise himself he then walked up to a cashier and produced what appeared to be a gun in a carrier bag before handing over a note asking for money. The cashier then pressed the panic alarm sending gas powered shutters from the floor to the ceiling in two seconds.

North, from Bingley in West Yorkshire, then fled empty-handed to the bus station where he caught the bus to nearby Scarborough. Four armed response units were alerted, two heading for Whitby and two for Scarborough.

Marked police cars followed each bus to Scarborough for eventually pulling him off the bus in the holiday resort.

The weapon he was carrying turned out to be two batteries attached to a short baton with duct tape.

Detective Constable Darrin Knight, said: "The people at the Halifax acted very well indeed. They were not expecting it to happen in Whitby but they acted very quickly and were able to provide a very good description of the man which assisted officers in pulling him off the bus."

North pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and possessing an imitation firearm at York Crown Court. He was jailed for three years and three months.