A MAN has been ordered to pay just £10 back after stealing hundreds of pounds worth of items from Herefordshire takeaways.

Richard George Mellor entered a guilty plea when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

The court heard Mellor had entered Flames takeaway in Leominster as a trespasser on April 22, stealing £1,960 cash, 10 Makita electrical tools, and two car keys.

The 44-year-old had also entered Yoko Thai Foods in Leominster as a trespasser on October 12, where he stole hundreds of pounds worth of items.

Magistrates heard Mellor's haul included a canvas worth £25.39, two lamps worth £30 each, a framed drawing worth £24 and a wooden elephant worth £55 a circular saw worth £300, a canvas worth £31.27, lightbulbs worth £13.44, pipes worth £15, a door closer and ruler worth £14, and a BT home hub and 4G booster worth £200.

Mellor also admitted breaching the terms of a conditional discharge order imposed by magistrates in Kidderminster on August 24.

Mellor, of West Street, Leominster, was handed an 18-months community order and ordered to complete a 12-month drug-dependency treatment programme. Mellor was fined £10 as he has already completed a four-month curfew, ordered to pay compensation of £10, costs of £135, and a £95 victim surcharge.