Convicted robber Brendon Nangle denied he had invented an alibi to fill "a spectacular hole" on the night he was accused of robbing South Marston Post Office.

Nangle, 41, formerly of Swindon, was accused at the appeal court of inventing an alibi because there was a gap in the story he told the police of his whereabouts at the time of the robbery.

But Nangle, who is seeking leave to overturn his conviction as "unsafe" and is also seeking leave to appeal against his 12-year sentence, told the court he was not lying when he said he had been out for dinner with his girlfriend at the time of the robbery.

Former plasterer Nangle fled the country and sparked an international hunt after a robbery at the South Marston Post Office in January 1989.

He escaped punishment for his involvement in the robbery, during which Nazma Rasul and her ten-year-old son were bound and gagged, until 1998, when he was returned to the country and convicted at Swindon Crown Court. He was found guilty of robbery and five charges of burglary.

Tuesday, he told the criminal appeal court judges that his conviction was unsafe.

He said that he had not been trying to fill a gap on the night of the robbery to explain his whereabouts.

Crown counsel, Derwin Hope, told the court that there was: "A gap, a spectacular hole at the time this robbery took place."

He claimed Mr Nangle had used the alibi that he had been out to dinner with his girlfriend to fill that gap. But Nangle said: "I don't see it that way."

He said his girlfriend had asked him out to dinner in a restaurant at 7pm on the night of the robbery and he was with her until 11.30pm the same night.

His appeal against the conviction is based on criticisms of his legal team at the crown court, which he fired during the trial. The hearing was continuing today (Wednesday).