A MAN and woman yesterday admitted being involved in knifepoint raids at a housing office and village post office on the same day.

Stephen Kenneth Ambler, 23, and 34-year-old Kay Thompson who appeared before Durham Crown Court, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob.

The charge relates to incidents at a housing rent office in Shiney Row, near Sunderland, and at a post office in Front Street, Langley Park, near Durham, within a two-hour period on February 19.

The raiders fled empty handed from the housing office, but escaped with money from the post office.

Ambler and Thompson, both of Downs Lane, Hetton-le-Hole, Wearside, were remanded in custody pending preparation of probation service reports.

Both will be sentenced following the outcome of a trial on 32-year-old Gary Hickman and 26-year-old Thomas Mason, who both denied conspiring to rob.

Mr Hickman, who was bailed to an address in Henry Street, Hetton-le-Hole, and Mr Mason, of Dunkirk Avenue, in nearby Houghton-le-Spring, who was remanded in custody, will both return for trial on August 19.