A CHRISTMAS Eve chocolate thief has been ordered to pay back the value of the items he stole.

Luke Michael Fenn entered a guilty plea when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford on February 17.

The court heard Fenn had stolen a bike cleaning kit and aluminium sulphate worth £40 from a person in Leominster on December 24.

The 31-year-old had also stolen seven boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates worth £56 from Leominster's Morrisons supermarket on December 24, and a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates, three packs of bacon, and three packs of mince worth a total of £20.42 from the same shop on December 27.

Fenn, of Ridgemoor Road, Leominster, was ordered to pay compensation of £40 to the first victim and a total of £76.42 to Morrisons. He must also pay costs of £135.