THE jailing of a prolific burglar has been welcomed by police.

Michael Loraine, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and three of burglary last week.

He was sentenced to four years in prison at Swindon Crown Court on June 9.

Loraine, 51, carried out a number of thefts and burglaries around Swindon and Highworth in recent months.

He burgled a home in Hilton Close in Lawn, at some point between November 24 and December 15, 2016, then shoplifted from HMV in Swindon town centre in January and stole from a shopper in Pound World on Regent Street in February.

Finally, in April, he broke into two Highworth houses, one in Biddel Springs and one in Windrush.

Community co-ordinator PC Phillippa Sharpley said: "We welcome this sentencing as this person was instrumental in a number of burglaries and thefts in the Swindon area.

"Thanks to information given to the police from the public we have been able to remove another criminal from the streets of Swindon, someone who didn't care about how his actions would drastically affect his victims."