A man alleged to have robbed a building society told Bristol Crown Court he had sold the suspected getaway car before the date of the raid.

Michael Arthur said he was given the white Ford estate in lieu of a debt in June 2007, but sold it in return for some crack cocaine a few weeks later.

Arthur, 43, and Sheffick Hassan, 46, both of no fixed address, deny robbery and possessing an imitation firearm in a raid on the Britannia branch in Westbury-on-Trym in July last year.

Arthur, who was homeless and addicted to alcohol, cocaine and heroine at the time, used the car to sleep in.

He explained to the jury that he had recently begun to do some building work to earn money.

Earlier this week the jury was told that a robber wearing a builder's hard hat and fluorescent jacket and a balaclava grabbed £3,500 from terrified staff after pointing a gun at a worker's head.

Following the raid, police found items strewn over streets and gardens in Montpelier – including a white Ford estate.

Simon Morgan, prosecuting, asked Arthur why he left his hard hat and other work clothes in the car when he sold it.

"I left them in the car because of my pneumonia. I had trouble walking down the road let alone working," said Arthur.

He later told Judge Andrew Langdon he could not carry all his working clothes around with him, being homeless.

The court also heard from Hassan, who claimed he was waiting for a drug dealer in Montpelier when a white Ford estate pulled up and two men got out.

He said one walked off and the other asked him to help him remove the number plates.

Hassan said he then bought the car from him for £40.

The case continues at Bristol Crown Court.