A man was pressured by his girlfriend's drug dealers into attempting to defraud a bank in return for having his girlfriend's debts cleared, a court has heard.

Christopher Beardshaw, 31, was acting under instructions when he tried to defraud Barclays Bank, Skipton magistrates were told.

The dealers gave Beardshaw a false driving licence and told him to use it to transfer £4,700 from one account to another, the court heard.

But staff became suspicious because of Beardshaw's nervous behaviour and called the police.

Beardshaw, himself a former drug addict with 99 previous convictions, was already under a six-month community order imposed just last month, the court heard on Wednesday.

But in mitigation, Simon Hustler said Beardshaw was in fact a talented builder and decorator who was trying hard to rid his partner of her drug addiction.

He said Beardshaw had taken on the woman's twin three-year-old children and the couple were expecting another child. He spent a lot of time looking after the children and planned to care for them full-time when his partner was in a drug rehabilitation centre.

Mr Hustler said Beardshaw's intention was to try to clear his partner's debts of £200 and had ended up being a "patsy" for the dealers.

Beardshaw, of Salisbury Road, Keighley, admitted having a driving licence in his possession with the intention of using it in connection with a fraud, and to pretending he was someone else with the intention of getting £4,700.

Sentencing was adjourned for pre-sentence reports.