A prolific shoplifter has been jailed following a week of targeted action by police.

Carl Poynton, 43, of Broughton Close, Blackburn, was arrested earlier this week for shoplifting in the town centre.

He was charged and remanded into custody and has now been sentenced to eight weeks in prison.

As well as targeting Poynton, police were also working in plain clothes targeting other retail crime and anti-social behaviour and over the last two days have come across one incident of youth anti-social behaviour, one missing from home incident, three breaches of council orders concerning people being seen with open alcohol containers in the street, and seven breaches of council orders in relation to begging.

A spokesperson for the police said: "This is an excellent result and just shows the importance of reporting all incidents to the police."