DETECTIVES investigating a nightclub raid in which more than £30,000 was stolen from a safe have charged the venue's former manager.

Police revealed yesterday that a 23-year-old man has been charged with conspiracy to burgle in connection with the raid on the DH1 nightclub, in Durham City, on October 31 last year.

A police investigation was launched on the morning of Halloween when neighbours discovered a man tied up in a bungalow in Hopper Terrace, Trimdon Grange, County Durham.

The club manager, who has not been named, claimed to have been held up by a man who had lying in wait when he returned to his home in the early hours after finishing work at the North Road club.

The alleged victim, who believed his assailant had a gun, said he was forced to hand over the keys to his black BMW car and the nightclub.

Some time later, closed-circuit television footage captured images of a figure pulling an empty trolley into the nightclub, then emerging with a fully-laden trolley into the city streets.

Officers visited the nightclub and discovered a large quantity of cash, thought to be at least £30,000, was missing from the safe.

The missing car was subsequently discovered a few days later near The Stonebridge Inn, in the Nevilles Cross area of the city, but police say very little of the cash has since been recovered.

Police made a number of arrests within two weeks of the alleged theft, and, on Sunday, officers based at Durham City police station charged the man.

He has been released on bail to appear at Consett Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

Three other people, two men and one woman, all of whom are in their 20s and from the Durham City area, remain on police bail until early next month while inquiries continue.