High value farm GPS devices stolen in west Dorset were found hundreds of miles away.

They were recovered after a police pursuit in the Hull area led to the arrest of two men.

The pair have now been jailed following an investigation led by Humberside Police, and assisted by Dorset Rural Crime Team.

Tomas Staukauskas, aged 32, of Beverley Road, Hull and Mantas Palionis, aged 31, of Abbey Street, Hull were sentenced at Hull Crown Court. Both pleaded guilty at an earlier court appearance for handling stolen goods and going equipped for theft.

Staukauskas was sentenced to four years in prison whilst Palionis was sentenced to three years in prison.

An investigation was launched by Humberside Police following officers locating a car which had been identified in multiple high value thefts.

Police said following an on-foot chase the men were arrested and a search of the car conducted. Inside the car, a substantial amount of farming GPS devices were found. They were wrapped in tin foil to prevent the signal of the devices being detected. Following further searches additional GPS systems were found.

Following contact between Humberside Police and Dorset Rural Crime Team it was established two of the devices that had been seized had been stolen from west Dorset.

Officer in the case Andrew Green, from Humberside Criminal Investigation Department said: "Palionis and Staukauskas are calculated criminals, who carefully planned ways to try and evade arrest and conceal their offending."

PC Sebastian Haggett, from Dorset Rural Crime Team, said: "We will continue to work with other forces to target rural offenders and bring them to justice."

In the summer we revealed that a crime report by UK insurer NFU Mutual showed that rural theft cost Dorset an estimated £348,000 last year, a fall of 28 per cent from the previous year.

However, claims indications show a rise in the national figure with rural crime costs across the UK up 22 per cent to an estimated £49.5m.

Police said gangs were targeting high-value farm machinery and GPS kits because they can be sold all over the world.