A postAL worker accused of staging a £100,000 armed raid on his van denied it was set up yesterday.

Robert Johnson, 31, said he was petrified when he was approached by two men, one of them armed with a gun, as he sorted the mail in a Newcastle street.

Mr Johnson is accused of arranging the raid with a former school friend in an attempt to get a compensation payout from the Royal Mail.

But he told Newcastle Crown Court yesterday: "I was approached by two men who came up behind me and said, 'I've got a gun. Do as you are told you and will not get hurt'."

Mr Johnson said he was forced to drive through Newcastle and into Gateshead.

He said one of the men jumped out of the van in Gateshead with one or two bags and he was forced to drive on to a field where the van was found abandoned.

Mr Johnson, of Biddick, Washington, Wearside, denies conspiracy to steal.

The trial continues.