FIVE men have been charged and remanded into custody after a police investigation into a series of more than a dozen burglaries of homes across Somerset and Devon.

All five are charged with conspiracy to commit a dwelling burglary with intent to steal.

No pleas were entered and all five were remanded pending a further hearing in Bristol Crown Court on April 10.

The charges came after a lengthy police investigation into a series of burglaries across the Avon and Somerset and Devon and Cornwall policing areas in which mainly cash and high value jewellery were stolen.

Det Insp Tim Mullins said: “Burglary is a horrendously intrusive crime which can have a lasting psychological impact on victims as well as a financial loss.”