A MAN who made a bungled bid to rob a Sedgley bank using a "give me the money" message written on the back of a betting slip has been jailed.

The note Jason Philips passed to a member of staff in Lloyds Bank also claimed he had a nail bomb and gun.

But the quick-thinking teller immediately showed it to the other cashiers and they all walked into a rear room, leaving Philips alone and empty-handed in the High Street branch.

The 35-year-old had no option but to leave the bank and flee from the scene but he was recognised when police officers watched the incident, which was caught on CCTV.

Sally Hancox, prosecuting, said Philips did not make eye contact with the cashier - he simply pushed over the betting slip on which he had written "You have got 10 seconds.

"Be discreet and place the money in the bag. I have a nail bomb and a gun. My life has no value so make no mistake."

After leaving the bank, Philips, who had 72 previous convictions on his criminal record, was picked up by police officers 34 days later in Kidderminster.

Miss Hancox told Wolverhampton Crown Court that Philips, who had been taking cocaine before going into the bank, had been sent to prison in 2012 for robberies at supermarkets in Wordsley, Wombourne and Sedgley.

Philips, of Hunton Road, Erdington, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and he was jailed for three years and four months by Judge James Burbidge QC.