TWO people have denied having equipment on them which was planned to be used in a theft.

At South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court on March 29, Steven Ball (37) and Sarah Helen Hewson (31), both of Chatterton Street, Sunderland, answered charges relating to alleged activity in Eilansgate, Hexham, on March 28 this year.

It is alleged Ball was found at the scene with wire strip tweezers and Hewson possessed an OBD reader, a vehicle diagnostic device which reads data from a vehicle, with the intention of carrying out a burglary.

It is also said that the pair interfered with a Ford Transit van with the intention of committing a theft.

Both defendants denied the two charges.

An electronically-monitored curfew between 9pm and 7am was imposed on Ball and Hewson until they stand trial at Newcastle Magistrates' Court on July 30.