A knife-wielding robber who took part in a day-light raid at a rural village post office has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Robert Ingham, 28, pleaded guilty to robbery after his DNA was found in a stocking mask left in a getaway car.

His accomplice, Thomas Reay, 20, is yet to be sentenced after being found guilty following a trial.

Eric Turner, a former Derwentside district councillor, had arrived at his family-run shop on January 2, last year, to find his wife and daughter at the mercy of Ingham and Reay, both armed with blades.

The 71-year-old picked up a 4ft drain rod and managed to push Reay, who was brandishing a machete at him, off the counter.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the pair still managed to escape with almost £2,000 during what was described as "every Post Office employee's worst nightmare".

The raid happened when Mr Turner's wife Enid, 56, and their daughter Angela Smith, 35, were working at the store in Hamsterley Colliery, near Consett, County Durham.

The pair escaped in a stolen Honda Civic, where Ingham's mask was found. Reay, 20, was arrested after his finger print was found on a glass panel.

Reay, of Scotswood, Newcastle, denied robbery and will be sentenced after the preparation of reports.

Ingham, of Derwent Crescent Estate, Hamsterley Colliery, had pleaded guilty at an earlier occasion but could not be sentenced until the conclusion of Reay's trial.