TWO men have been arrested in connection with three robberies in the region.

The men, aged 28 and 24, were arrested yesterday and were last night being held by police in Stockton.

The arrests followed three robberies in Teesside and County Durham on Sunday.

The first was at 2.30pm at Bell Stores, in Darlington Lane, Stockton, when two men entered the shop and threatened staff with knives, before escaping with cash.

At 6.45pm, they struck again at the Top Taste pizza shop, in Stockton, but despite threatening staff were not handed any money. They fled in a red vehicle.

The final theft was at Londis newsagent and sub-post office in Middleton St George, near Darlington, at about 7pm, when two men threatened three members of staff with knives and screwdrivers.

A Durham Police spokes-man said: "There were no customers in the shop but one of the staff was left badly shaken by the ordeal.

"The men escaped with a few hundred pounds in cash."

An Astra believed to have been used in the Middleton St George robbery was later found in the Teesside area.