The ringleader of a robbery gang which targeted a Droitwich shop has been jailed for nine years at Worcester Crown Court.

John Sutton and Robert Vine burst into the store in Blake Avenue wearing balaclavas and carrying guns. Women staff told the pair they had no access to the safe but they grabbed just £180 from a till float and fled when an alarm sounded.

The robbery was one of 11 carried out by Sutton over two months in Bromsgrove, Walsall, Longbridge, Solihull, Bartley Green and Stourbridge.

In every case he was armed with an imitation pistol and attacked the shops late at night or early morning when staff were most vulnerable.

The former delivery driver used his knowledge of the shops' routines and got away with £15,000 between November 28 last year and January 28 this year, said Glyn Samuel, prosecuting.

He recruited his brother-in-law Vine and Ian Poole.

Sutton, aged 36, of Mountbatten Road, Walsall, pleaded guilty to 11 robberies and 11 counts of using a firearm. He was sentenced to nine years.

Vine, aged 19, of King George Close, Bromsgrove, admitted five robberies and five counts of using a firearm. He was given seven years' detention.

Poole, aged 40, of Austin Road, Bromsgrove, admitted one robbery and one count of using a firearm. He was jailed four and a half years.

Delroy Henry, for Sutton, accepted the robberies were planned but described them as unsophisticated. They were motivated by financial difficulties.

Gerald Bermingham, for Vine, said he had no previous convictions.

Kate Iliffe, for Poole, said he become unable to cope as a single parent to two children.