A YOUTH described by police as Middlesbrough's most prolific car thief was locked up for ten months yesterday.

The 16-year-old - who cannot be named for legal reasons - pleaded guilty at Teesside Youth Court to 11 charges relating to vehicle crime and breach of bail.

Magistrates gave him a 20-month detention and training order. He will spend half that time at Castington Young Offenders' Institution in Northumberland, before being released to spend ten months under a training order.

Acting Sergeant Colin Whitfield, of Middlesbrough's vehicle crime unit, said the teenager was responsible for a "massive" number of car crimes in the town.

"At the time he was arrested, he was our most prolific car thief in Middlesbrough," he said. "On the night he was taken into custody we had less than half the number of reported thefts from motor vehicles than we had had the previous night.

"The figures really speak for themselves. I can't say he was responsible for all of the drop, but there was a substantial drop in car crime overnight and I don't think it was a coincidence. We hope the drop continues now he's been caught."

Six police officers arrested the boy after tracking him down to a friend's house in the early hours of Thursday.

He was charged with offences ranging from unlawful and aggravated vehicle taking to driving while disqualified, criminal damage to vehicles, driving without insurance and three breaches of bail.

"He had been wanted for a number of weeks," said Sgt Whitfield. "To see him convicted is really good news for us. It sends out a clear message to young car thieves in Middlesbrough that they will be caught.

"It's also reassuring to residents on the estates where he has been living.