TWO brothers were jailed for 15 months yesterday after admitting stealing 37 radios from parked cars.

On July 8, Anthony Donaldson, 43, of Daventry Avenue, Ragworth, Stockton, and his brother, Barry, 36, of Richard Hind Walk, Stockton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal between September 8 last year and February 27.

They were sentenced at Teesside Crown Court yesterday following a joint investigation involving police from North Yorkshire, Cleveland and Durham into the theft of Ford car radios that were being offered for sale on the Internet.

The thefts, mainly during evenings from pub and hotel car parks, took place in Darlington, Nunthorpe, in Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Topcliffe, Thirsk, Stokesley, Great Broughton, Kirkbymoorside and Pickering, in North Yorkshire.

Investigating officer Acting Detective Sergeant Simon Caukwell said yesterday: "I would like to thank the members of the public who took the time to report the suspicious activity of these two and also the co-operation of the other forces in the investigation.

"The force is committed to reducing this type of volume crime and targeting prolific offenders.

"Some members of the public seem to think that it is not worth reporting something like the theft of a car radio as the police won't do anything about it, but we have proved that this is not the case."