Burglars from Liverpool who stole vehicles from the driveway of a house in Deal have been sentenced.

Ellis McKeown, 24, and Marcus Jones, 20, made off with three vehicles after breaking into a home on Friday, June 18 last year.

They were spotted on a driveway by a woman at 4.30am before attempts were made to get into another property nearby.

A property in the Sholden area was then broken into, the keys to three vehicles were taken from inside and the vehicles were stolen.

Kent Police investigators tracked the vehicles being driven towards East Sussex.

Two days later, Sussex Police attended a property in Fairlight and found one of the stolen vehicles, which had by that time been fitted with false number plates.

CCTV footage from around the property was examined and the stolen vehicle was seen with four people nearby.

"Burglaries have a big impact on people's feeling of safety in their own home..."

An officer from Kent Police's chief constable's crime squad recognised two of those seen in the footage as McKeown and Jones, having encountered them on previous occasions.

The pair were traced and Jones, of Torrington Drive, was arrested in Liverpool in August that year and McKeown, of Stapleton Avenue, was arrested in Wolverhampton the following month.

Appearing at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday, McKeown was jailed for two and a half years for burglary and two counts of attempted burglary.

Jones was given a 20-month sentence, suspended for two years, for his involvement in the same offences.

McKeown's sentence included a six-month term for a dangerous driving offence in the West Midlands.

Detective sergeant Jay Robinson said: "Burglaries have a big impact on people's feeling of safety in their own home, as well as the inconvenience of replacing stolen and expensive items or being without the use of vehicles.

"Kent Police is therefore committed to investigating all offences reported to us and will always work to bring offenders to justice.

"A swift and thorough investigation into these offences led to one of the vehicles being traced and the suspects later being identified and arrested.

"I hope the sentences handed down mean other residents of Kent, and elsewhere in the country, are spared the attentions of these two burglars."