POLICE today issued a photograph of a man who escaped Court after his conviction for burglary and urged him to give himself up.

Officers searching for Neil Paul Hodgson also urged residents in and around his home village in north Durham to help in the hunt by studying the image to see if they recognise him.

Hodgson, 29, made his bolt for freedom from the dock in court two of Durham Crown Court after a jury returned a guilty verdict on a charge of burglary following a two-day trial, on Friday, October 16.

He has remained at large since, and it is thought he may be hiding somewhere in the area near his home village of Pelton, near Chester-le-Street.

People in the Pelton, Chester-le-Street, Stanley and Annfield Plain areas are asked to check caravans and outhouses where he could be living rough.

Since his disappearance, extensive investigations have so far failed to find any trace of Hodgson, who is originally from Guisborough, North Yorkshire, but who has lived in County Durham for the past few years.

Detective Sergeant Paul Hadden, of Durham Police, said: "We're appealing to Hodgson to give himself up.

"He has friends and acquaintances in Pelton, Chester-le-Street, Annfield Plain and Stanley, and we believe he is still in this area.

"We're also advising householders to check caravans parked on driveway and their gardens sheds and outhouses, as we know that he has in the past stayed n places like that.

"We are asking people to study the photograph and, if they recognise Hodgson or believe they may have seen him since he absconded, to contact us as a matter of urgency."

Following the jury verdict on October 16, Hodgson, of The Avenue, Pelton, was told to expect a sentence in excess of three years as, "a three strikes burglar".

Once he had successfully fled court, Judge Christopher Prince issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

* Anyone with information should contact Chester-le-Street CID, on 0345-60-60-365, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800-555111.