FOUR people have been arrested on suspicion of helping a Burnley fugitive evade justice for four years.

Officers from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, Lancashire Constabulary and the Serious Organised Crime Agency raided three houses in Radcliffe, Chorlton and Prestwich early yesterday morning.

A 27-year-old woman, a 29-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man have been arrested suspected of assisting an offender and money laundering.

A 39-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and making an untrue statement to procure a passport.

They are all accused of helping 31-year-old Andrew Moran go on the run. He was arrested last month after a raid on a luxury villa in the Calpe area of Alicante.

Two handguns, 60 rounds of ammunition and a machete were recovered.

In May 2005, Moran and 29-year-old Stephen Devalda, held up a Royal Mail van outside Asda in Colne. A handgun, machete and baseball bat were used during the £25,000 raid in which a security guard was injured.

Moran was arrested but at his trial at Burnley Crown Court, he assaulted four security guards, vaulted over the dock and escaped.

He was subsequently convicted in his absence of conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Det Chief Insp Janet Hudson from TITAN said: “These arrests were made as part of our continued investigation into how Moran was able to evade capture for so many years.”