TWO burglars responsible for "a plague" of break-ins across the North-East, in which they stole half a million pounds-worth of goods, have been jailed.

Police said countless lives had been ruined by Martin James Flemming, 28, of Slatyford, and Paul Tullin, 33, of West Allotment after a judge jailed the pair for more than seven years each.

In February, 2015, Flemming and Tullin were responsible for stealing a Mercedes car, worth £38,000 during a burglary in West Denton. The vehicle was eventually recovered in the Cleveland area on false registration plates.

They went on to burgle the home of a couple in their 80s in Winlaton, a house in Lemington and a property in Ryton, before ransacking a house in Benton stealing around £52,000-worth of property including a diamond bracelet worth £25,000, a Breitling watch worth £6,000 and a £5,000 Rolex watch and a car.

They also burgled two properties in Ryton and Winlaton. During the Winlaton break-in they stole around £140,000-worth of jewellery and treasured family possessions.

A Newcastle Crown Court sentencing hearing saw Flemming receive a jail term of seven years and ten months, while Tullin was jailed for seven years and four months.

Newcastle Superintendent Paul Knox said: "Flemming and Tullin are professional burglars who have been a plague on Tyneside for a number of years. They have ruined countless lives and wrecked peoples' homes with their criminal actions and the pair of them are easily responsible for committing over half-a-million pounds worth of burglaries across Newcastle and Gateshead."