Two men jailed for 18 years after robbing a cash security van in Caterham have had their jail terms cut on appeal.

Marvin Samuels, 29, of Woodside Green, South Norwood, and Nicholas Leacock, 36, of New Cross, Southwark, were each jailed for nine years, following the robbery on a security van outside a Blockbuster store in London Road, last April.

Within hours officers had arrested four men after the Metropolitan Police, Kent Police and Sussex Police launched a search. A tracking device in the stolen cash box led police to an address in Headley Drive, New Addington.

Guildford Crown Court heard a box containing £370 in notes stained with purple dye, industrial cutting equipment, a balaclava and a polo shirt were found in the address.

The court heard Leacock grabbed the cash box from the driver, before jumping into a getaway car driven by Samuels and speeding away from the scene In November the pair admitted conspiracy to rob at Guildford Crown Court.

A third man pleaded not guilty to money laundering, but was found guilty by a jury and jailed for a year. A fourth man arrested in connection with the incident was later released without charge.

Last week, three senior judges at the Court of Appeal upheld the pair's appeal, stating their sentences were too harsh and failed to distinguish between their roles in the robbery.

Samuel's sentence was reduced to seven-years and Leacock was given an 11-year-extended sentence, with eight years in custody and three years on licence.

Both had previous convictions for theft, robbery and burglary.