A teenage boy has told a jury how he and his friend were bundled into a car and robbed after being threatened with a claw hammer.

The two 16-year-olds had been walking with friends in the Shearbridge Road area last January when three men in a car asked them if they wanted to buy some cheap cigarettes.

One of the victims, now aged 17, said he and his friend agreed over the phone to meet the men later that night near the Bombay Stores, but when they refused to show them the goods the boys tried to walk away.

He described how the front seat passenger in the car, believed to be a Honda Civic, jumped out and grabbed his friend.

The 17-year-old said the man was threatening them with a claw hammer and telling him to get in or he would kill his friend. "I panicked and got in the car,'' said the youngster.

After the car drove off it pulled into a dark alley and the teenager said one of the men told them they were being mugged. During the boys' ordeal, which lasted about an hour, the men took about £30 from their wallets and then drove them to a cashpoint machine so they could use their bank cards to get out more money. The teenagers both gave false PIN numbers to the men and when one of them tried unsuccessfully to get some money he was furious when he came back to the car.

"He pulled open the car and he was screaming,'' said the teenager. He said his friend was then kicked and hit on the hand with the claw hammer.

"I told him to stop and gave him my correct PIN number,'' he told the jury.

Prosecutor Michael Bosomworth asked the youngster if they had tried to escape while the car was parked near the cashpoint machine, but he said the men had put the child locks on the car.

After a further £20 was taken using the boy's cash card the robbers then tried to get the friends to phone their mates so they could steal money from them. Eventually the boys were dumped near a taxi rank and let out.

Kasam Mahmood, 20, and Ajaz Eqbal, 20, both of Kensington Street, Girlington, and Omar Ali, 20, of Hoxton Street, Girlington, have all pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnap and robbery.

In a police interview Mahmood said he was trying to calm the boys down because they were scared and said they were lying about his part in the offences.

Ali and Eqbal were arrested later and denied being present during the incident.

The trial continues.