THE trial of a delivery driver accused of stealing £3,512 collected from a customer on his round has been put back more than a month.

Shaun Renshaw, 41, denies theft, claiming he lost a bag containing the money before he was able to hand it to his employer, Foodline North-East, on Seaham Grange Industrial Estate, County Durham.

Mr Renshaw said he accidentally put it in the household bin at his home in Blackhills Terrace, Horden, east Durham.

By the time he realised, the bin had been emptied - although he did later offer to try to repay the money or work without pay to make up for the amount lost.

A trial began at Durham Crown Court on Wednesday.

But it was brought to a halt on Thursday when it was decided that documents produced in evidence required clarification, which could take several weeks.

Recorder John Aitken discharged the jury and bailed Mr Renshaw to return for a new trial, at the court, on October 26