A HUSBAND and wife from Flintshire have appeared in court following a counterfeit currency raid.

Ian Cole, 56, and Ursula Cole, 48, both of Golftyn Lane, Northop appeared at Leeds Crown Court charged with conspiring to pass on counterfeit currency.

Ian Cole admitted charges but the judge refused to accept his guilty plea and he is due back in court in September.

The prosecution offered no evidence against Ursula Cole and the case against her was dropped.

The charges follow an operation carried out by West Yorkshire Police in May.

They stopped a Range Rover on the M62 on May 19 before executing a search warrant at a farm in Golftyn Lane.

It is alleged that £350,000 worth of counterfeit notes, along with equipment which could be used in the production of fake currency, were found.

The prosecution alleges a further £250,000 worth of counterfeit notes were seized in the motorway swoop.

Charged along with the Flintshire pair were John Hartley, 60, of Cheltenham Road, Bradford; Lee Mitchell, 38, of Swinnow Gardens, Bramley, Leeds; and Christopher Brooke, 28, of Greenside, Pudsey, Leeds.

The three Yorkshire men also admitted the same charges, but their pleas were also rejected and they will return to court next month with Cole.

A trial date has been set for November.