A DRUG addict's crime spree across south east England came to an end in Basingstoke when his car was found to be without a tax disc.

For four months, Mark Staniforth, 37, went from hotel to hotel, running up bills that he did not pay and feeding his £180-a-day drug habit by stealing cash and credit cards.

His final destination was The Lamb Hotel, in High Street, Hartley Wintney, where he again left without paying.

Winchester Crown Court heard that police stopped Staniforth in Basingstoke on September 9 when they could not see a tax disc on the Rover he was driving.

When officers checked his details, they found he was wanted by three police forces for crimes committed in five counties.

Staniforth was taken to Basingstoke police station and admitted five dishonesty offences and six counts of burglary and theft.

In court, he asked for a further 27 similar offences to be taken into consideration and admitted breaching a community order imposed by Guildford Crown Court last January.

Stuart Ellacott, prosecuting, told the court that after losing his job as a pub chef, Staniforth committed a string of crimes to fund his drug habit.

In mitigation, Francis Chamberlain, defending, said: "Mr Staniforth wants to put it all behind him and make a clean start. He bitterly regrets what he has done."

Recorder Stephen Lennard sentenced Staniforth, of no fixed abode, to a total of 32 months imprisonment.

The sentence was made up of four consecutive terms, each of eight months, plus one concurrent six-month sentence. Staniforth was sentenced to two concurrent eight-month sentences for two charges of obtaining property by deception. For three charges of obtaining services by deception, he was sentenced separately to another three eight-month sentences to run concurrently.

The third term was three concurrent eight-month sentences for three charges of burglary and the fourth term was three concurrent sentences of eight months imprisonment for the three counts of theft.

For breaching the community order, he was handed a six-month sentence to run concurrently with the previous sentences.

Mr Lennard referred to Staniforth as an old-fashioned con man and told him that if he had not pleaded guilty, he would have faced four years in prison.

Staniforth will spend half of the sentence in custody and will then be released on licence.

After the sentencing, Detective Constable Kerrie Harman, of Basingstoke CID, said: "Basingstoke was lucky he was caught when he was."