TWO robbers who held-up a security van carrying cash at gunpoint and led police on a 140mph chase were yesterday locked up indefinitely.

Wesley Robinson and Lee Jordan will be freed from prison only when the Parole Board considers they are no longer a danger to the public.

The pair travelled to Teesside from the North-West to carry out the raid as the van delivered at the Co-op in Thornaby, near Stockton, in April. Two stolen cars used in the getaway were also seen on reconnaissance trips to the town in the weeks leading up to the 8am armed robbery.

After the hold-up, Robinson raced at speed through busy rush-hour traffic in a desperate attempt to avoid being captured, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He drove at up to 140mph on the M62 towards Manchester, sped along the hard-shoulder and through roadworks, said Peter Johnson, prosecuting.

The car was dumped at the Trafford Centre shopping complex before the two occupants fled, discarding clothes and gloves as they ran off.

Closed-circuit television cameras captured the pair dodging about the mall, and they were linked to some of the thrownaway items by DNA.

The £2,200 taken in the robbery – all in coins – was found in the back of the Honda Civic getaway vehicle, which had been stolen three months earlier.

Jordan, 32, was arrested at the shopping centre, but Robinson managed to escape and stayed at large for more than two months, said Mr Johnson.

The court heard that the 32- year-old was detained at the immigration centre at Manchester Airport on June 25 as he tried to leave the country.

Both men pleaded guilty to robbery and possessing a prohibited weapon, and Robinson also admitted a charge of aggravated vehicle taking.

Judge Peter Bowers ordered them to be detained for the protection of the public, and warned that they will not be considered for parole for six years.

Tim Hogman, for Jordan, said his client accrued debts after getting involved in an expensive lifestyle following the prison suicide of a life-long friend.

Mr Hogman said father-of-two Jordan, of Salford, Manchester, became depressed and desperate for cash to meet the debts.

Caroline Goodwin, for Robinson, of Pendlebury, Swinton, said he regretted getting involved in such a serious offence.