A DETECTIVE who helped jail a gang for 120 safe burglaries across five counties has been recognised for bringing them to justice.

The criminals made off with more than £200k in cash and caused damage worth almost £500k by ripping safes from buildings using a 4x4.

DC Jeremy Horner, from Salisbury, and two colleagues spent the best part of a year trawling though thousands of intelligence reports, phone records and incident logs to build a case against the gang, who were eventually jailed for a total of 24 years.

Now the detectives have been awarded the Chief Constable’s Commendation for their efforts.

DC Horner said it was "absolutely fantastic" to be recognised after what was a complex and lengthy investigation, and he was "really proud and honoured" to receive the award.

Wiltshire Chief Constable Mike Veale said the detectives had worked tirelessly and their professionalism and commitment had brought the investigation to a very successful conclusion.

The gang, which included Jesse Gregory, David Royles, and Joseph Butler, had targeted isolated, rural properties where many of the owners lived on site.

When the alarms went off, a number of the victims had confronted the gang, DC Horner said. Coming face-to-face with masked men wielding crowbars and threatening violence had been incredibly frightening and had left many of the victims deeply traumatised.

Scouring the records of 15 mobile phones helped the detectives trace the suspects to the crime scenes and areas where stolen safes had been found. DC Horner said the biggest challenge was the sheer volume of documents they had to examine.

"There was a hell of a lot of material to sift through," he said.

"You are going through each and every crime file, reading it again and again, checking CCTV and forensic reports, making sure you haven't missed anything. It was an absolutely cracking result."

Gregory got 10 years, while Royles and Butler each got seven and now prosecutors have managed to claw back almost £300k though the proceeds of crime act.

DC Horner's colleagues Nigel Porter, now retired, and Inspector Paul Franklin also picked up the award for their part in the investigation.