A LITTLE Hulton man is one of two suspects alleged to have stolen more than £70,000 from payphones.

Alan Portwood, aged 37, of Carrfield Avenue, has been charged with conspiracy to defraud alongside Paul Knowles, aged 38, of Broomfield Road, Heaton Moor.

Both men have been bailed by magistrates to appear before Manchester Crown Court on Friday May 6. 

The charges come after a series of thefts from British Telecom payphones in Ashton-Under-Lyne in Tameside amounting to over £70,000 from April 2015 onwards. 

Portwood and Knowles were arrested on April 9 when officers from the North Manchester Development Team and Neighbourhood Team executed two warrants in Little Hulton and Heaton Moor.