A gang of criminals was yesterday locked up for a total of 26 years after an 18-month police investigation into thefts and robberies targeting heavy goods vehicles.

Members of the gang used a yard in the Keighley area to store some of the stolen property.

Six men were yesterday jailed at Leeds Crown Court after the West Yorkshire Police Economic Crime Unit investigation into the offences, which took place along the M1/A1 corridor.

James Hodges, 23, of Morley, Leeds, was jailed for eight years for robbery; Jason reynolds, 40, of Castleford, was imprisoned for five years for conspiracy to steal; David Kirk, 49, of Seacroft, Leeds, and Adam Dixon, 44, of South Milford, near Leeds, were jailed for three years, and Craig Barraclough, 43, of Whitkirk, Leeds, to four years for conspiracy to handle stolen goods; and Kyle Bedford, 26, of Belle Isle, Leeds, was sentenced to three years for assisting an offender.

The men were working in two groups, with one using an area of land in North Yorkshire to store the stolen property and the other operating from a yard in the Keighley area, where a stolen trailer and tractor were recovered.

One of the offences involved the robbery and kidnap of a foreign driver from a service station. He was forced into the back of a van and driven to another county where he was held against his will while £130,000 worth of whisky was stolen.