A CLITHEROE man today admitted waging a blackmail and bomb hoax camp-aign against supermarket giant Tesco in a bid to extort £1m.

Philip McHugh, 52, of Milton Avenue, threatened to plant bombs and contaminate food, caus-ing Tesco to close 14 supermarkets across the country on July 14.

The Clitheroe branch of Tesco was one of the shops that was forced to close as a precaution.

At St Alban's Crown Court, McHugh pleaded guilty to three specimen charges of blackmail and two specimen charges of communicating a bomb hoax targeting the Hertfordshire-based supermarket chain in July this year.

The blackmail offences relate to July 7 and July 13 when Tescos received demands for £500,000 on each occasion.

The bomb hoaxes refer to two of the 14 stores that were closed - one in Victoria Street, Grimsby, and one in Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

He was remanded in custody and psychiatric reports will be carried out into his mental state before he is sentenced next year.

Tesco stores across the country were affected as part of his bomb threat campaign in Dyfed Powys in Wales, Fife and Strathclyde in Scotland as well as Suffolk, Leicestershire, Humberside, Herefordshire, West Yorkshire, Notting-hamshire and London.

The stores re-opened after searches of the buildings and surrounding areas.

McHugh, who lived with his wife and two teenage children, was arrested in Clitheroe on July 23.

The unemployed charity volunteer had lived there for the past three and a half years.

McHugh, the court heard, has no previous convictions and had been under the care of a community psychiatric nurse in the months before he sent the letters.

Richard Simons, defending, said he had been referred to a consultant psychiatrist just days before his arrest.

After the case David Potts, Tesco's retail and logistics director, said: "I would firstly like to thank the authorities for their efficient handling of the investigation that has resulted in bringing this individual to justice.

"Throughout this incident all our staff acted with the utmost professionalism and I would also like to thank them for their efforts.

"I hope this case goes some way to reassure everybody that any threat of force is taken extremely seriously and that we have robust procedures in place to ensure public and staff safety."

Det Chief Insp Bill Jephson, of Hertforshire Police, who led the inquiry, said: "The response in this case reflects how seriously blackmail is taken and that companies like Tesco will not be held to ransom."

The case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports.