A balaclava, a claw hammer, a knife and steel tubes stuck together to resemble a shotgun were seized from the home of men accused of three armed raids on massage parlours in Oxford.

A jury was shown the items at Oxford Crown Court. The men, Peter Mackie, 30, and James Qualter, 34, are alleged to have used the items during robberies last December.

They were seized on December 28 during a police search at the address the men were living at in Harolde Close, Barton, Oxford.

Pc John Ottaway said he found the items in an Early Learning Centre carrier bag on the top of a wardrobe.

Evidence was read to the court that Mackie, Qualter and a third man had been arrested the previous day as they approached a white G-registration Vauxhall Astra, which was under police surveillance.

The owner had reported the car stolen on December 16. Police tailed it on December 25, after spotting it at a petrol station, but it sped away.

A pick-axe head and handle, which had been in the car when it was stolen, were also found at the men's address.

Melinda Ibita, who worked from an address in London Road, Headington, told the court how two masked men threatened her and the woman who worked as her receptionist, on December 23.

She said the first attacker carried a knife and claw hammer, while the second carried what looked like a shotgun.

"The man with the hammer kept saying: 'Give us your money or we are going to kill you'," said Miss Ibita.

Mackie, of Bulan Road, Headington, and Qualter, of Harolde Close, deny aggravated burglary on December 20 in Abbey Place, Oxford, robbery and possession of an imitation firearm on December 23 in London Road, Headington, and attempted robbery and possession of an imitation firearm in Millway Close, Wolvercote, on December 27.

The trial continues.