A ROBBER who dumped a bag of cash after raiding Southend's Bradford and Bingley building society has been jailed for 12 years.

Graham Farrell, 44, appeared before Harrow Crown Court to admit nine robberies and nine offences of possessing an imitation firearm.

The court was told Farrell used an imitation gun to steal £95,396 from banks in London and the South East between April 2006 and January this year.

Farrell, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to robbing Bradford and Bingley in Southend High Street on November 12, last year. Shoppers watched as he threw a bag of cash outside the Body Shop, where it exploded in a cloud of smoke from the security dye.

He ran off towards Southend seafront, as armed police searched the area with the use of the police helicopter.

The string of robberies started at Bluewater in Kent on April 27, 2006, when Farrell robbed a Woolwich branch.

He also pleaded guilty to robbing another two Bradford and Bingley branches in Kingston-upon-Thames in London and Upminster, the Co-operative Bank, in Dartford, two Woolwich branches and a Bradford and Bingley branch in Sevenoaks.

His crime spree ended on January 9 this year, when he was arrested after brandishing a gun at two members of staff in Bradford and Bingley branch in Harrow, telling them to hand over the cash.

As he made his escape, a security device caused smoke and dye to come from the bag of cash and as Farrell stopped to pick up some dropped cash, two passing officers in a patrol car chased and arrested him.

Det Sgt Mark O'Shaunessey, from the Met Police's Flying Squad, said: "This man conducted a reign of terror.

His sentence reflects the gravity of this offence and should act as a deterrent to others engaging in armed robbery."