THREE men who were caught after a police chase ended in a crash have pleaded guilty to a petrol station burglary in a village near Marlborough.

The men from London appeared before Salisbury Crown Court on Wednesday and admitted the raid on the garage in Burbage.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: "Shortly after 5 am on July 8, a member of the public heard the petrol station alarm and saw a Ford Mondeo driving off from the scene. They called police and a description of the vehicle was given to officers in the area.

"A roads policing officer, was patrolling nearby and spotted the Mondeo driving dangerous through Everleigh. The officer attempted to stop the vehicle but it continued at excess speed and on the wrong side of the road at times before crashing at the junction of the A342 and A338.

"The three men ran off in the direction of Ludgershall pursued by police dog Dixie and her handler who tracked them down enabling officers from the Community Policing Team to arrest them. A search of the abandoned car revealed a bag containing a large quantity of stolen cigarettes.

"The men were interviewed by the Community Tasking Team officers and this team built the file which was given to the Crown Prosecution Service."

Greg Stanley Gregory, 24 from Neckinger Estate, Southwark was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment

Scott Anthony Bassett, 35 from Lomond Grove, Southwark was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment

Luke Stanley Pembroke, 29 from Amina Way, Southwark was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.

Inspector Paul Saunders said: “This incident was brought to a successful resolution due to the excellent team work between Roads Policing Unit Officers and Dog Handlers from Wiltshire’s Specialist Operations department and Officers from the local Community Policing Team.

"By combining the skills of the specialist units with the excellent local knowledge of the Community Policing Team, officers were able to detain the suspects, recover stolen property and prevent further offences from being committed.”

PS Tracey Holloway, East Wiltshire CPT deputy was also keen to praise the combined efforts of staff and the community: "We would like to thank the member of the public who quickly rang us with information about the burglary in the early hours of the morning, this sense of community spirit was key to help our officers to locate, detain and prosecute these men. We would encourage the public to take action if they should witness a crime in progress by calling us on 999 straight away and provide as much detail as possible."