A MAN from North Yorkshire has been jailed for ten years for an armed robbery at a bank 25 years ago, thanks to fingerprint technology.

Alan Murray, 59, from Pilmoor near Easingwold, was jailed at Derby Crown Court today for the raid at Lloyds Bank in Cromford, Derby, in 1985, Derbyshire Police said.

The force, which is still looking for Murray's two accomplices, said fingerprints and new technology helped find him 25 years after the crime.

A spokesman said Murray and two others made off from the daylight raid on September 18 1985, with £7,500 - the equivalent of £17,000 today. Security guard John Power, 61 at the time, suffered serious injuries after being hit with the butt of a gun.

He was left on the floor while the gang fled to a getaway car after taking the cash from a safe. The car was found two days later in Market Place, Belper, police said.

The spokesman said prints found at the scene and on paperwork for hire of the getaway car were preserved at the time of the robbery.

When police checked the fingerprints against the national database last year they were matched against prints taken by Nottinghamshire Police in an investigation in 1987, placing Murray at the scene of the crime.

Detectives travelled to his home in Pilmoor to arrest him and he was jailed for ten years for robbery and possessing a firearm, after pleading guilty at a previous hearing.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Derek Ellis said: "It's due to the advancement in forensics and fingerprinting and the hard work of our fingerprint expert that Murray was identified."

Forensic identification officer Danny Redden, who made the fingerprint match, added: "Fingerprint technology has developed greatly over the years and I hope we will see an increase in the number of cold cases like this being solved."