TWO men have been charged in connection with a knifepoint robbery at a town petrol station and two other raids.

Staff at the Applegreen petrol station in Cinderford High Street were allegedly threatened on Sunday afternoon (July 28) as raiders made off with money, tobacco and cigarettes.

The robbery followed two other knifepoint raids the same day where similar items were stolen – at McDonalds on Bristol Road in Gloucester at 6.30am and at a shop on Twyning High Street near Tewkesbury, 28 miles from Cinderford, shortly before 10.15am.

Two men from Gloucester – Michael Lebon, 48, of Stanley Terrace, and John Phillips, 46, of Stratford Close – are due to appear before Cheltenham magistrates today (Tuesday, July 30) charged with five counts of robbery.

Lebon has also been charged with three counts of possession of a bladed article.