A former England and Wycombe Wanderers footballer who turned to armed robbery after racking up gambling debts from a habit he picked up in the top flight has been jailed for 15 years.

Nathan Ashton, 29, who played premiership football for Fulham before starting a career in the lower divisions targeted betting shops across the South East with his friend.

Along with former Scottish Premier League player Ohmar Pike, from High Wycombe, the pair netted nearly £15,000 from eight raids, including one in Cressex, High Wycombe.

In one raid, a cashier “fell to his knees and had a panic attack and begged for his life” before a robber put a gun to the back of his head and said: “I’m going to blow your head off, if you don’t open the safe”.

Ashton, who made 20 appearances for England teams from under-16 to under-19 level, developed a gambling habit as a footballer.

But, following a rape allegation while he lived in High Wycombe – for which he was later acquitted – he “lost his livelihood”, and his debts spiralled out of control, apparently reaching £100,000 last August.

He started robbing betting shops after a friend suggested it was an easy way to raise cash, Kingston Crown Court heard.

Ashton carried out two robberies alone in February last year, and carried out eight raids with former Gretna FC player Pike, 27, between May and October 2015.

Father-of-two Pike, who played for the Scottish club for 18 months before they went into administration in 2008, became involved after he fell into debt.

Roughly £14,500 in cash was stolen from Paddy Power, William Hill and Coral betting shops during the spree.

Ashton, who admitted his role in the raids, was jailed for 15 years and Pike, found guilty by a jury last week, was jailed for 11 years.

Judge Susan Tapping said: "These robberies were carefully planned and developed a pattern to them.

"You must have travelled extensively to identify your targets."

She told Ashton: "You were armed with a weapon, usually in a plastic bag or wrapped in plastic. You carried what two witnesses described as a black handgun.

"It may well have been an imitation, but it looked realistic so was very frightening."

Judge Tapping told Pike: "I have considered your family circumstances. You also had a promising life until last year, and the disintegration of it is very sad, particularly for your children.

"But perhaps you should have thought of them first and not just now."

At the time, Ashton was already carrying out a three-month suspended sentence, after pleading guilty last August to stalking his ex-girlfriend, during which there was a suggestion he was “in debt to the tune of about £100,000”, prosecutor Sam Brown said.

Mr Brown told the court: “Nathan Ashton had an enduring friendship with Ohmar Pike, which, for reasons only known to themselves, evolved into a successful criminal partnership.

“The offenders exploited a vulnerability – namely, robberies took place when cashiers were susceptible to attack."

They picked random locations to "disrupt" police efforts to identity the "pattern of offending", he added.

Pike was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to rob last week, but cleared of one count of conspiracy to possess a firearm or imitation firearm.

Ashton, of Reading, pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery, two counts of possession of an imitation firearm, one count of conspiracy to rob and one count of conspiracy to possess a firearm or imitation firearm.

No plea was entered for a further six counts – four counts of robbery, one of dangerous driving and one of possessing a firearm – which will lie on file.