A burglar who stole thousands of pounds’ worth of power tools from a construction site has been jailed.

Adam Walford swiped the equipment from a locked storage room in Flying Horse Lane, Dover, in October.

The 46-year-old, of Rokesley Road, was arrested on November 4 and charged with one count of burglary after a blood stain belonging to him was found on an unused rubble sack.

At Canterbury Crown Court he admitted the charge but denied stealing all of the missing tools, claiming he had taken just two reciprocating saws - photographs of which had been found on his phone by officers.

Walford also said he had not entered the building intending to steal; instead he maintained that he had been on his way to visit a friend when he saw the site and decided to fall asleep there.

However, the judge disagreed with his version of events and sentenced him on Thursday to 29 months in prison.

PC Mike Kingwell said: "It was an unusual claim by Walford to suggest he had stolen two of the missing power tools and all the others must have already been stolen before he arrived.

"He also claimed he only entered the building because he was cold and then fell asleep, but in fact he intended to steal so there probably wasn’t much time to snooze.

"We are pleased the court saw through his claims and sentenced him to time in prison – theft of tools like this can leave a business out of pocket and having to deal with the inconvenience of not having the tools needed for their work."

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Dover