A man who admitted to a string of offences in Great Yarmouth as part of a wider crime spree across Norfolk and Suffolk where property worth a total of over �28,000 was stolen has been jailed.

Matthew Eke, 35, formerly of Tayfen Road in Bury St Edmunds, was jailed for 18 months after admitting to 56 offences across the region.

Eke was arrested by police on September 28 in connection with a burglary at business premises at Angel Hill in Bury on the evening of Sunday 25 September.

He was charged with this offence and went on to co-operate with police officers on Operation Converter - an initiative by Suffolk Police which encourages offenders to admit offences in order to give their victims some peace of mind.

One of his 'taken into consideration' offences, which date back more than ten years, was the theft of a charity box from Bury St Edmunds Cathedral in 2009, while many of his burglaries and thefts were from shops in the Yarmouth area.

Dc Duncan Etchells, of the Operation Converter team, said he hope the result would give Eke's victims some closure.

'These offences affected a lot of people over a period of years - from those at the Cathedral and schools who had to deal with the loss and clearing up after Eke to those individuals who were victims of thefts.

'We are pleased he decided to co-operate with us in order to give his victims some peace of mind that someone has been traced and dealt with for these crimes - in some cases years after the original offence.'

In total Eke admitted 21 burglaries of 'other' buildings (not occupied homes), 32 thefts, two criminal damages and a theft from motor vehicle offence. Of these, 26 of the crimes were in Suffolk and 30 in Norfolk.

Among his crimes was the theft of a TV from a supermarket in Beccles in July 2001, and the theft of alcohol from the same store on two further occasions in the same year.