A 16-year-old from Haslington stole goods totalling tens of thousands of pounds from nearby homes, including a horde of china figurines.

Matthew Hill, of Crewe Green Avenue, pleaded guilty to two charges of burglary which involved theft of electrical goods and jewellery totalling £6,880.

He also had nine other similar charges involving property worth tens of thousands of pounds taken into consideration at Chester Crown Court last week.

Hill was ordered to serve a two-year detention and training order and reporting restrictions allowing the Guardian to name him were removed.

Det Insp Alan Allman said: "We identified a pattern of burglaries in Haslington which is unusual for that area and put crime reduction methods into practice.

"The Community Support Officers were used to highlight the problem.

"Doulton and Beswick figures were among his targets, so we warned people not to leave those and other valuables where they could be seen from outside the house.

"The divisional Community Watch manager Sarah Wilson issued free marker pens to householders through local shops.

"At the same time we were working to establish the identity of the burglar through the system of information and targeting which forms the basis of our detection work.

"Detective Constables Andy Hildreth and Darren Harper arrested him and recovered much of the stolen property from his home.

"The sentence reflects the serious nature of these crimes and the distress they caused.

"We hope it sends out the clear message to criminals of all ages that they will be caught and they will be dealt with.

"I am particularly pleased that we could return stolen property to some of the owners.

"I would like to use this as a reminder to people to make sure they mark valuable items with an ultra violent pen as it vastly increases the chances of us being able to return their property if it's recovered."