A PETROL station cashier has admitted making up a story about an armed robbery to try and cover up the fact that he and five friends had ransacked the place themselves.

A PETROL station cashier has admitted making up a story about an armed robbery to try and cover up the fact that he and five friends had ransacked the place themselves.

Glen Robinson, 22, told police he had been the victim of a robbery at the hands of a masked man wielding a claw hammer.

Police launched a major investigation and appealed to the public for information into the alleged incident at Tollgate Service Station, in Fornham Road, Bury, on May 7.

But yesterday, Robinson, of Tut Hill, Fornham All Saints, admitted making up the whole story after he and five accomplices had ransacked the service station themselves, taking almost £3,000 worth of cash and goods.

Appearing at St Edmundsbury Magistrates' Court, Robinson pleaded guilty to charges of wasting police time and, with others, burglary of £2,333 worth of alcohol and cigarettes, as well as the theft of £451 cash.

Standing beside Robinson in the dock, Daniel Bird, 20, of Risbygate Street, Bury, pleaded guilty to one charge of burglary. Karl Hills, 22, of Rede, near Bury, pleaded guilty to burglary.

Dale Minall, 21, of Hall Close, Icklingham, admitted burglary and one charge of theft.

A 17-year-old, who cannot be named for because of his age, pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary and one of theft.

And a 16-year-old, who also cannot be named, admitted handling stolen goods.

John Fenn, prosecuting, told the court: "Mr Robinson was employed at the garage as a cashier. On May 7, he allowed the others to enter the garage and items were taken in the course of the burglary."

The group then left, but three of the six went back, stole cash and removed the CCTV footage from the security cameras.

"They then agreed he (Robinson) would say he had been subject to a robbery," Mr Fenn said.

Felicity Carnegie, representing Robinson, Minall, Hills and Bird, said Robinson was "the one in more serious trouble because he was employed at the garage and there is a breach of trust".

"However, all young men made full admissions to the police and have entered guilty pleas at the earliest opportunity."

She went on to explain that it was "an impulsive act" which was not pre-planned.

Mrs Carnegie said there was no "sophisticated planning" and that it was "surprising they weren't detected earlier".

The two youths were sent, on unconditional bail, to the youth court, at Bury, for sentence on June 12.

Robinson, Minall, Hills and Bird were released on unconditional bail, while pre-sentence reports are compiled, to be sentenced by magistrates in Bury on July 5.