THREE men have admitted conspiring to burgle a north Cumbria filling station shop.

Ionut Madalin Iosif, 38, Gheorghe Bratianu, 33, and 31-year-old Leonard Cristea were warned they are facing “significant” prison sentences for their roles in the break-in.

The Whiteclosegate filling station shop in Brampton Old Road, between Carlisle and Houghton, was burgled between midnight and 1am on November 6.

At Carlisle Crown Court yesterday, the three men each admitted one charge of conspiracy to commit burglary.

No details about the crime were given during the short hearing, which was adjourned by Judge Julie Clemitson for the preparation of probation service background reports.

Iosif and Bratianu, both of Rodsley Avenue, Gateshead, and Cristea, of Claremont South Avenue, Gateshead, will be sentenced on January 17, and were remanded in custody in the meantime.

“You should understand,” Judge Clemitson told the men, “that in each of your cases the most likely outcome is a significant custodial sentence.”