A serial shoplifter has been given a 24-month community order after pleading guilty to a string of offences in Nelson.

Khumbulani Nyathi (28) of no fixed abode, was charged with three counts of theft from a shop, and pleaded guilty when he appeared at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court on Friday August 28th.

The previous day, officers from the police Prosper Partnership team arrested Nyathi following incidents of theft from stores in the area, where items including coffee, alcohol and washing pods were stolen.

Sgt Carl McCoy said: “This type of criminality will not be tolerated within our communities. The impact of such crime has a detrimental impact on businesses and members of the public, and we will endeavour to prosecute those that want to commit theft.”

Operation Vulture, which has seen multiple convictions, is Lancashire Constabulary’s response to shoplifting across the county, backed by Lancashire's Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw.