Motorist Ian Falk was locked in the boot of his Ford Mondeo for 13 hours after he was kidnapped by two members of a gang, a court heard.

Mr Falk had to hand over his wallet and reveal his bank card number after the Wantage men jumped into his car at the Chieveley Services, near Newbury, on January 29 this year.

The victim was forced to lie in the boot of his car for 13 hours while the men, who threatened to cut off two of his fingers, drove his car to London, Aylesbury, Bicester and Peterborough.

At 2am the next day, Mr Falk found himself abandoned in a field near Peterborough and called the police on his mobile phone.

The men had used his bank card to withdraw £500 and buy food during his nightmare journey. Yesterday at Oxford Crown Court, Mathew (CORRECT) Forrest, 24, and 16-year-old Daniel Huggins pleaded guilty to kidnapping Mr Falk, of Chichester, Sussex.

The teenager's father, Philip Huggins, 42, admitted false imprisonment in connection with the incident.

David Bright, prosecuting, told the court the three men were also responsible for carrying out a string of robberies at 12 shops in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Buckinghamshire, including premises in Eynsham, Wheatley, Abingdon, Oxford and Chilton, over a four-week period.

On each occasion the men, wearing scarves over their faces, entered the premises in the evenings when shop assistants were alone and brandished weapons, including knives, metal bars and a wooden stick. Their typical haul included cash from the till and cigarettes.

Yesterday, all three admitted conspiracy to rob. Philip Huggins also pleaded guilty to carrying out a burglary at stables inat Cross Trees Farm, Sutton Courtenay in February.

Another man, Paul Forrest, 24, the brother of Mathew Forrest, admitted being Huggins' accomplice on that occasion. The brothers also admitted stealing a woman's bank cards from her car on January 26 and using them to withdraw £80 from a cash machine.

At the time of the offences, all four men lived in the same house in Springfield Road, Wantage, and they were arrested on February 14.

Brendan Anderson, defending Philip Huggins, said that although he was not involved in kidnapping Mr Falk, he realised he was in the car boot.

"He having learned that, he took no steps to ensure that Mr Falk was released," said Mr Anderson, "but he said that he should be and that it was a foolish enterprise." Robert Grey, representing Paul Forrest, said he took a minor role in the burglary by acting only as a look-out.

Paul Brogan, for Mathew Forrest, said at the time Forrest, who he described as "not inherently evil", was hooked on heroin and needed cash to feed his addiction.

Judge Mary Jane Mowat adjourned the case until today, when she will hear mitigation for Daniel Huggins and will pass sentence on all four men.

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