THREE armed robbers who carried out a raid at a County Durham bank have been jailed for a total of 63 years.

Lee Tansey, 40, of Innings Drive, Salford, Anthony Gough, 37, of Blackmoor Drive, Liverpool and Christopher Reuben, 32, of Wigan Road, Ashton-in-Makerfirled, robbed the TSB bank in Horden on September 21, 2016.

Armed with a hammer and a crowbar, they made verbal threats to cashiers and told them to get on the ground before emptying the cash draw and removing around £11,000.

The men then left in a waiting vehicle and later set fire to it in a nearby housing estate before transferring to another vehicle.

Following the incident, Durham Constabulary arrested the trio who were released under investigation.

Durham worked alongside Greater Manchester Police to trace the men, who were later arrested for a number of other armed robberies at banks and jewellers across the country.

They appeared at Manchester Crown Court on Friday, March 16, where they were each sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Detective Sergeant Chris Woollett, from Durham City CID, said: “As a result of thorough research around the movements of the vehicles and the intelligence gathered by Greater Manchester Police, we were able to monitor their behaviour and arrest them for further violent offences.

“We are happy with the sentence imposed by the court and would like to thank the members of the public who assisted us in the investigation.”