A WOULD-be robber who told staff at a Lydney bookies that he had a bomb in his bag has been jailed for seven and a half years for a string of similar offences.

Lloyd Keiran Jones went into the shop at around 8.15pm on Monday, October 22 and initially asked for details of the last dog race.

He was given a copy of a racing paper and then put a carrier bag on the counter saying: "This is how it is. I have a bomb here."

The cashier told him she had pressed the panic and he said she should not have done that – but then picked up the bag and walked out of the shop empty-handed.

Jones, of Glynneath near Swansea, committed similar offences in South Wales, Herefordshire, the West Midlands and Somerset.

He appeared before a judge at Cardiff Crown Court last week where he admitted six charges of robbery and two of attempted robbery.

He was caught about a week after the Lydney incident by police in Chippenham, Wiltshire, after they noticed him carrying a bag with wires.