THE jury in a "double your money" fake cash con trial at Burnley Crown Court has been discharged.

The move, by Judge Beverley Lunt, came on the third week of the trial in which Bruno Pankui, 35 and Eric Feyou, 32, both from London, denied conspiring to steal cash between January 1 and March 22, last year.

The pair will face a retrial in June.

The jury had heard claims jobless Saghir Ahmed, who works in his brother's off-licence in Daneshouse Road, Burnley, handed over £84,000 after two men allegedly convinced him they had perfected a scientific process of making counterfeit cash.

It was claimed they could make up to £1million a day with a process using chemicals, tin foil, powder, ultraviolet light -- and a man standing on a box for 10 minutes.

The jury heard the defendants had set out to steal cash from gullible and greedy victims. After handing over £42,000, then another £42,000, Mr Ahmed was asked for a further £17,000, it was claimed.

But Mr Ahmed went to the police instead.

The defendants were then arrested after a police "sting" at the Travelodge Hotel, Gannow Top, on March 21.

Pankui, who is from the Congo, claimed Mr Ahmed offered him five per cent commission to get involved in a counterfeit "business" and had threatened him with gangsters.

Feyou, from Cameroon, claimed he had lost £20,000 to his co-defendant who had promised he could double his money with the process.

He said he wanted his cash back and came to Burnley as he believed that was where the chemicals would be to "wash" the original £15,000 he had given Pankui.