The driver of a Securicor armoured van from which more than £300,000 was taken in a robbery told a Court he was forced at gunpoint to be the inside man on the raid and had to lie to police about his involvement to save his life.

Amir Hussain, 23, told a jury at Leeds Crown Court yesterday how two men had threatened him with a gun in the months before the robbery at the Crown Point Retail Park, Leeds, in January 2002, forcing him to go along with their plans for the raid.

Prosecutor Philip Standfast asked Hussain why he failed to tell police about the threats made to his life when he was first interviewed.

"Fear for my life," Hussain said.

During his initial training with Securicor, Hussain had been shown a video film on what to do if forced to carry out a raid.

Mr Standfast asked why he had not followed those procedures.

"That was something I saw on television - this was real life and at the time I was too scared to talk to anybody," replied Hussain.

Instead, he said, in the months leading up to the robbery he had tried to get himself sacked so he could not be involved in it.

He said he broke company rules on how cash was stored, crashed a security van and turned up late for work - for which he only ever received verbal warnings.

Hussain said he only decided to tell the truth the day before the trial was due to begin in January this year, but the trial was postponed because of technical difficulties.

Hussain, of Horton Grange Road, Great Horton, and Fahim Azam, 23, of Farnham Rd, Great Horton, both deny carrying out the robbery.

The jury has been told that Mohammed Farooq, 22, of Hollingwood Lane, Lidget Green, pleaded guilty to robbery after his fingerprints were found on a bag left behind at the scene.

The court also heard evidence from Azam, who denied being involved in planning or carrying out the robbery.

The trial continues.