A Cromhall father and son have both been sent to prison after a court heard how they walked into a Gloucester store, cleared the shelves of goods, packed them into their van and drove away.

Asa Manders, 42, and his father George, 62, both pleaded guilty at Cheltenham Magistrates court yesterday to theft from Halfords on Eastern Avenue, Gloucester on September 9 last year.

The defendants live in caravans sited in a field next door to each other at The Orchard, Bristol Road, Cromhall, South Gloucestershire.

The magistrates heard that the pair committed the offence while subject to a suspended prison sentence order imposed by Bristol magistrates on April 18 this year for stealing £671 worth of goods from an Aldi store.

Prosecuting lawyer Sonia Alford said: “They took the goods from Halfords into their van, which was parked outside the store, and drove off - but the police had been called and the vehicle was stopped about 20 minutes later.

CCTV showed the defendants loading the goods into the van, the court was told.

“Both father and son are heavily convicted – Asa Manders has 75 convictions for 139 offences and George Mandens has 34 convictions for 47 offences,” said Ms Alford.

Magistrates jailed Asa Manders for a total of 18 weeks and his father for a total of 14 weeks.

Both were also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 each.