THREE Kidderminster men who burgled the DVLA offices near Worcester have been jailed for a total of 10 years.

Police chased the getaway car after Gavin Shuck drove into the viewpoint car park near the southern Severn bridge an hour after the raid.

During a 20-mile high-speed pursuit, a safe from the burgled premises was thrown out of the Ford Mondeo into the path of the patrol car, Worcester Crown Court heard.

The gang grabbed £2,197 which was seized by police from ringleader Mark Wilson when they arrested him later.

Shuck, 40, of Rifle Range Road, Kidderminster, and Terence Hodgkins, 31, of Goldthorn Road, Kidderminster, were convicted of burglary by a jury in February.

Wilson, 37, of Albert Road, Kidderminster, pleaded guilty before the trial began but was also in breach of a suspended jail term.

The trio had a record of 42 burglaries between them, said Sophie Lomas, prosecuting, although Shuck had only carried out one previous raid.

Shuck was jailed for two and a half years, Hodgkins for three years and 10 months and Wilson for three years and 34 weeks.

Judge Andrew Geddes branded Wilson the gang's leader and said his accomplices acted as driver and lookout.

He said although Wilson and Hodgkins were professional burglars, they bungled their crimes and got caught every time.

The raid was carried out on the night of November 15 last year.

Shuck was arrested after he drove up a dead-end road. Hodgkins fled from the car and was found hiding in another vehicle later the same night.

Emma Rutherford, for father-of-three Shuck, said he was worried about the effect his prison sentence would have on his children.

He was determined to take steps to change his lifestyle.

John Brotherton, for father-of-two Hodgkins, described the raid as "farcical" and added: "If he's a professional burglar, he's not particularly good at it."

David Payne, for Wilson, said he committed crime to make a living but he had been put up to the DVLA raid by someone else.