A bungling robber who crashed the getaway car into a brook has been jailed for four and a half years at Worcester Crown Court.

Alan Beamish waded to the bank and arrived home soaked to the knees and into the hands of police.

His two accomplices - who raided T and M Retail Store in Matchborough Centre, Redditch, and got away with a haul worth more than £4,000 after tying up the manager - were never found.

Beamish, aged 50, of Greystone Close, Redditch, was quickly traced and arrested because he had used his girlfriend's car in the raid.

Judge Frank Chapman said the defendant was in a "befuddled state" through drink before the robbery and added: "If you were choosing a getaway driver you wouldn't choose him."

And he told Beamish: "You're not very good at it - you're getting too old to do it."

Beamish pleaded guilty to robbery and the burglary of a social club at Badsey, near Evesham, when cigarettes and cash totalling £830 was stolen.

He left blood at the scene and it matched his DNA profile, said Michael Aspinall, prosecuting.

The defendant also asked for seven burglaries of commercial premises to be taken into consideration. He had a record for 42 offences, 16 of which were break-ins.

On October 28 last year, Ian Jeanes was grabbed as he arrived for work at the shop and tied by his wrists and ankles. He saw one robber holding a wrench and was warned the other had a knife.

The balaclava-clad men fled carrying bin liners stuffed with goods after a delivery driver surprised them. Mr Jeanes needed hospital treatment for shock.

Police tried to stop the Rover driven by Beamish by smashing the driver's window. One officer was hit on the leg as the car swerved, said Mr Aspinall.

Beamish, who drove with a scarf around his face, careered along a verge into a field and lost control.

He arrived home with one shoe. The other was found by police still stuck in the brook.

Tim Sapwell, defending, said robbery was "not his scene", adding Beamish had been recruited to drive in the early hours after drinking alcohol and using drugs. He did not want to name accomplices through fear of reprisals against his family.