Residents are being urged to be vigilant and take steps to protect themselves from being targeted by burglars.

Dorset Police has issued advice on crime prevention after a number of successful burglary convictions.

Police advise residents to take simple crime prevention measures - such as keeping windows secured and doors looked, even when home - to help protect their property.

The advice comes after a prolific burglar was jailed for more than six years following a string of offences in Weymouth.

Jamie Spencer, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to three charges of burglary relating to offences on Dorchester Road on March 9 and on Brackendown Avenue on March 13, as well as a burglary in Yeovil.

The 44-year-old also asked for a further 13 burglary offences to be taken into consideration when sentenced – four in Yeovil and nine in Weymouth - which were committed between February 27 and March 13 this year.

Spencer was sentenced to six years and four months in prison after admitting a total of 16 offences at Taunton Crown Court.

In November, two burglars conned their way into the homes of elderly residents.

Kieren Bekir, 28 and of no fixed abode, and Bethany King, 34, of Houndwood Drove in Somerset, were sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of burglary.

All three distraction burglaries took place in Bournemouth, with Bekir selecting properties to target and King entering the address posing as a care worker.

Bekir was jailed for four years and eight months and King was handed a prison sentence of three years and 10 months.

Detective Constable Chris Raspini, of Dorset Police’s Priority Crime Team, said: “Kieran Bekir and Bethany King preyed on the most vulnerable of people by targeting their victims in their own homes to steal cash and bank cards.

“They conned their way into their victims’ homes by posing as the very people they know they would trust.

“We would like to remind residents that distraction burglars will use a wide range of tactics to gain entry to an address. Do not buy, sell or sign up to any work on the doorstep no matter how urgent they say the work is.

“If you are suspicious of the caller’s intentions, tell them to go away and call a family member or neighbour and inform the police.

“If they won’t leave, then call 999.”

Felix Joseph Crowe was sentenced to more than two years in prison after targeting properties in the Boscombe area of Bournemouth.

Crowe, aged 22 and of no fixed abode, was sentenced to 876 days in jail after admitting two charges of burglary, an attempted burglary and possessing a bladed article at Bournemouth Crown Court.