A TEENAGER took part in two house burglaries in which car keys were taken and vehicles were driven away from outside the targeted properties.

Over the course of two hearings at Durham Crown Court over the last six weeks, Connor Raynes has admitted two charges each of burglary and theft, relating to what are known as "two-in-one" break-ins at homes in Peterlee, last September.

Raynes and an accomplice removed money, a mobile phone and car keys from an address in Eastfield, before taking a Hyundai vehicle parked outside, on September 5.

He was also involved in a similar break-in, in Layburn Place, in which a handbag and its contents, a tablet computer and car keys were taken, on September 6.

A Volkswagen Bora was then taken from outside the premises.

Stephen Constantine, for Raynes, said he was 17 at the time and accompanied by a more criminally sophisticated offender.

Judge Robert Adams agreed to adjourn the case to allow for preparation of a background report on Raynes, who is now aged 18.

He was bailed to an address in Beaumont Crescent, Horden, pending sentence on March 23.