POLICE following a car near Bromyard saw a bag thrown from it into the road.

It contained gloves and drill bits and inside the car were more items from a "kit" to force telephone cash boxes, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Levi Smith, aged 37, of Coniston Road, Peterborough, pleaded guilty to going equipped for theft. He was jailed for 12 months.

Prosecutor Nicolas Cartwright said Smith and two friends were stopped on November 6 last year on the A465.

They found £59 in coins in the car and a template which positioned a drill in the right position to open cashbox doors. Other tools included punches and a socket wrench.

The other two men were not brought to court after Smith confirmed they did not know he had the tools.

A check on phone boxes in Herefordshire showed no cash boxes had been tampered with.

Father-of-three Smith, who had a police record going back to 1986, had bought the car with the tools already inside, said Dele Alakija, defending.

Recorder Alan Dooley said the equipment was for the use of professional thieves.