Ringleader: Anthony Edgerton made a joke as he was sentenced to 44 months in prison for the theft

A gang of criminals who stole £20,000 worth of Jammie Dodgers have been jailed for a total of 11 years.

The five men, all from the Liverpool area, travelled hundreds of miles to carry out the carefully-planned raid on the Burton's Biscuits factory in Cwmbran, South Wales.

They were caught after police used CCTV and automatic number plate recognition cameras to track their movements - but none of the stolen biscuits were ever recovered.

Paul Price, 35, Keiron Price, 28, Aaron Walsh, 25, Stephen Burrows, 36, and Anthony Edgerton, 35, were sentenced to between 12 and 44 months in prison after pleading guilt to the theft.

Ringleader Anthony Edgerton made a joke as he was jailed, saying to the judge: 'Sweet, thanks your honour, that'll be lovely.' Another defendant quipped: 'Anyone fancy a biscuit?'

Cardiff Crown Court heard how the gang used stolen vehicles with cloned licence plate for the raid in June last year.

They posed as DHL delivery men to gain entry to the site, where they took a trailer full of Jammie Dodgers with a retail value of £20,000. They replaced the trailer with an empty one they had stolen.

Police later found the £10,000 factory trailer dumped at a roadside in Warrington, Cheshire, but were unable to trace any of the stolen goods.

Prosecutor Jason Howells said it was unclear exactly what role each of the criminals played but said there was 'high culpability and significant planning involving the cloning of number plates'.

Judge Jonathon Furness QC said: 'A convoy of vehicles came down to Cwmbran and gained entry to Burtons biscuit factory. There was a good quantity of biscuits taken.

Daring raid: Kieron Price, left, and Paul Price, right, were also jailed for their parts in the Jammie Dodger theft

Caught: Aaron Walsh, left, and Stephen Burrows, right, were both handed a 16-month sentence for the crime

'There was a significant amount of planning with a series of thefts involving the cloning of number plates so it would not be known these vehicles were stolen.'

Edgerton was jailed for 44 months, Paul Price for 40 months, Kieran Price for 12 months, while Burrows and Walsh were both handed 16-month sentences.

Paul Price and Edgerton also pleaded guilty to a similar raid where a trailer full of nearly 2,000 cases of Carling lager was taken, worth more than £43,000.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Stuart Crocker said: 'I hope this case and the sentences given demonstrate to anyone involved in criminal activity that if they choose to commit offences in Gwent they will be pursued and brought to justice.'

Duped: The gang posed as DHL delivery men to gain entry to the Burton's Biscuits factory in South Wales