AN ACCRINGTON man has admitted his involvement in receiving a lorry containing thousands of pounds worth of alcopops.

Geoffrey Royal, 29, of Manor Street, admitted assisting unknown offenders who had committed robbery, kidnap and false imprisonment to dispose of an articulated lorry and its contents, when he appeared at Leicester Crown Court.

The charges related to an incident in Leicestershire in May 14 last year when a sleeping lorry driver was allegedly driven away in his vehicle by other unknown offenders.

Lorry driver Malcolm Simmons was driven away in the sleeping compartment of the vehicle before being dropped in Staffordshire, it was alleged. The lorry was later recovered in Kendal, Cumbria, minus its load of £75,000 worth of alcopops.

Two other men - Mark Norris and David Hilton of Bolton - also appeared at court where they pleaded guilty to handling the lorry and its contents while a third man David Young, also of Bolton, admitted handling a quantity of alcopops.

Judge Andrew Hamilton remanded Royal in custody, while the other three were granted conditional bail for the preparations of pre-sentence reports. The case was adjourned until August 15 at Derby Crown Court.