A GANG of Londoners caught after spending counterfeit cash in a town centre shop have been released on bail by a judge.

Claire Gill, Valerie Gill, and Aurimas Radzius, pleaded guilty to passing the counterfeit money in Swindon last February.

The trio, from the east of the capital, had been due to face a trial alongside a 16-year-old girl, accused of conspiracy to pass counterfeit currency.

But after Claire, 31, Valerie, 33, and Radzius, 26, pleaded guilty to a charge of delivering counterfeit currency with intent, prosecutors dropped the other charge.

As a result the pregnant teenager, who is due to give birth next week, was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Judge Douglas Field, sitting at Swindon Crown Court, adjourned the case to allow the probation service time to compile a pre-sentence report.

He released Valerie, of Isleworth and Claire and Radzius, who live together in Hounslow, on bail to February 22.

The four were arrested after reports of the dodgy bank notes being passed in stores, including Savers in The Parade.

It is alleged officers found £1,200 worth of fake £20 notes along with £420 in genuine currency in the door of the car when they were detained in Chippenham town centre.

The boot of the vehicle was also said to have been full of shopping bought from a number of stores in Swindon and Chippenham.

Fake money was also found to have been passed at other shops - Poundland, The Works, and Robert Dyas, in Chippenham.