Massage parlours in Oxford were targeted in a spate of robberies, a court was told.

Peter Mackie, 30, and James Qualter, 34, robbed three in December last year using a fake shotgun, a knife, a baseball bat and a claw hammer, it was alleged yesterday.

Nigel Daly, prosecuting, told the trial at Oxford Crown Court: "These were massage parlours where sexual services were provided."

He said a printout of calls made from the men's address at that time, in Harolde Close, Barton, showed the premises had been phoned shortly before the robberies.

Karen Davidson, who has known Mackie for five years, said a man claiming to be one of her clients asked to come to her address in Abbey Place, Oxford, on December 20.

When he arrived she realised she had not seen him before. He held a knife to her throat, while another man, who wore a balaclava and carried a baseball bat, stole £380. She later identified a suspect.

In the second raid, on December 23 in London Road, Headington, two men made off with less than £500, after robbing Melinda Ibita and a woman who worked as her receptionist, the court heard.

On December 27 robbers struck an address in Millway Close, Wolvercote, where a woman who gave her name as "Sara" worked as a masseuse.

Carla Formaggio, a friend who was visiting, said she heard her cry out as she was threatened by a man holding a white plastic bag, which appeared to contain a gun.

Miss Formaggio tackled him, pulled off his balaclava and managed to throw him out. A second man was on the landing below. The bag was found to contain tubing made to look like a shotgun.

Miss Formaggio said she was able to pick out a suspect from images on video.

Lynda Miller, who was living with Qualter and Mackie at the time, said the men would go out and come back with money. Mackie had called a prostitute once and spoken of having to hit a woman to get money. But she admitted their address had been a "crack house" at the time, and her drug use made it hard to remember some events.

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

The trial continues.