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A gang of thieves yelled ‘anyone want a biscuit?’ after being jailed for pinching £20,000 worth of treats from a Jammie Dodger factory.

The five-strong mob, mostly from Merseyside, drove into Burton Food Factory at Cwmbran, South Wales, pretending to make a legal pick-up, in June 2015.

On Monday, they were jailed for more than 11 years at Cardiff Crown Court .

Police used traffic cameras and mobile phone cell sites to catch the gang who had driven in convoy from Liverpool to South Wales during the plot.

Wagon Wheels plant

They used a tractor unit and trailer stolen previously in Kent and a missing Network Rail crew bus which had false number plates.

The court heard how one of the defendants calmly drove up to the gatehouse at the Burton plant in Ty Coch Way, Cwmbran - where Wagon Wheels are also made.

Just before 3am, on June 17, the rogue driver was wearing a high-visibility jacket and was directed to the distribution office where he explained he had arrived to collect a load for Liverpool.

Prosecutor Jason Howells said: “At 3.10am, he drove back towards the gatehouse and left, passing the guard who thought he had made a legitimate pick-up.

“He had left one stolen trailer behind and taken another.”

The Jammie Dodger trailer was later found abandoned and its entire stock of biscuits had disappeared.

Jail sentences

Anthony Edgerton, 35, whose address was given as HMP Liverpool, was jailed for 44 months, while former soldier Kieron Price, 28, of Crofton Road, Runcorn - who served with the Royal Engineers in Afghanistan - was given 18 months.

Stephen Burrow, 36, of HMP Dovegate in Staffordshire, and Aaron Walsh, 25, of Adam Close, Garston , each received 16 months.

Paul Price, 38, of no fixed abode, got 40 months.

They had variously admitted charges of theft of goods, theft of vehicles, theft by finding and allowing themselves to be carried in vehicles taken without consent.

Edgerton and Paul Price also admitted handling and the theft of a tractor and trailer containing £43,000 worth of lager, a month before the trip to Cwmbran.

Judge Jonathan Furness QC said the total value of goods and vehicles taken during the “sophisticated and planned” operation, was more than £100,000.

He added that number plates had been cloned from other vehicles which were not in use, and so were not reported as missing.

All vehicles were later recovered.

Edgerton was also banned from driving for three years after pleading guilty to driving while disqualified during the month-long crime spree.