Six men have appeared in court accused of conspiring to kidnap a businessman.

Builder Tony Pattison, 42, from Hartlepool, was snatched from the streets of his home town and held captive for 31 hours by an armed gang before being released near an exclusive housing development in Wynyard, Teessidge, in March last year.

He was freed after a successful police sting in which tens of thousands of pounds were handed over as a ransom.

The accused men, aged 44 from Cullercoats, Northumbria, 42 from Middlesbrough, 43 and 52 from Hartlepool, 35 from Stockton and 29 from Yarm will appear at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court.

They also faces charges of conspiracy to blackmail.

The names of the men have not been released.

The 44-year-old man was also charged with a firearms offence possession of a .22 pistol, ammunition and a CS canister.

Two of the men were also charged with conspiracy under the Trade Marks Act, along with a 54-year-old man.

A 26-year-old man arrested on Tuesday was released on bail.

Mr Pattison, a builder who is married and has a stepson in his 20s, said he feared for his life after being snatched from Seaton Carew while eating his lunch in a car park.

A major covert police operation involving more than 100 officers was launched in an attempt to find him.

Detectives even imposed a news blackout, which was lifted when they discovered he had been released.