Four Shropshire men have been jailed for their roles in a gang who went on a theft spree across rural Gwynedd.

In just three months, the gang stole more than £200,000 worth of high-value goods and vehicles such as Land Rovers, quad bikes, chainsaws and woodchippers.

They were sentenced to a total of nearly 16 years at Shewsbury Crown Court.

Last year, four other men were sentenced for handling stolen goods after they travelled to North Wales to collect the items and handing them over to others to sell.

The court heard the ringleader, Wayne Price (32) of Shewsbury, travelled to Gwynedd with accomplice Dean Rogerson (34) of Telford in July 2022 and identified potential targets.

The following month, Price went onto carry out four thefts in just five days, starting with two quad bikes from neighbouring addresses near Abergynolwyn. They were collected days later by Ryan Taylor (32) of Telford.

Two more thefts happened in the Bryncryg and Gwyddolfynydd areas, where Price stole another quad bike, along with an angle grinder, lawnmower and sheep shearing clippers.

He left the area and returned home on August 12th - two days later, Taylor returned to North Wales to collect more stolen items.

The following month, Price and Rogerson stayed in the Dolgellau area and carried out five more thefts.

The first happened in Harlech on September 14th where a golf buggy and a generator was stolen along with chainsaws, a leaf blower and strimmers, before being picked up by Taylor the following day.

Price and Rogerson went onto steal quad bikes, chainsaws and a shotgun from two addresses in Dyffrun Ardudwy the following night - but they were collected by Glenn Beresford (22) of Dudley and Niall Lloyd (27) of Broseley.

Lloyd was asked to return to Dolgellau the following day to collect more stolen property.

Two homes in Dolgellau were targeted by Price and Rodgerson on September 17th - from one, they stole a Land Rover, while from the other, they took around £60,000 worth of property.

Later that morning, the pair travelled to Bala before returning home to Shropshire, only to return again to North Wales with Lloyd and Taylor to move more stolen goods.

Seven more thefts were reported in October, when Price stayed for five nights at Dolgamedd Holiday Park in Dolgellau, alongside Neil Shevlin (32) of Shifnal, near Telford.

Another Land Rover was stolen from a house at Llanfihangel-y-Pennant and collected by Taylor, who also towed a quad bike and other equipment on a trailer stolen from the same house.

Taylor's drive attracted the attention of West Mercia Police, who stopped his car - but he managed to flee the scene on the quad bike.

Back in Gwynedd, Price and Shevlin targeted a house in Bala and stole a motorbike, two off-road bikes, two air rifles and a generator.

The next day, Shevlin was caught on CCTV at the Dolgellau holiday park cleaning his shoes to discard evidence of his involvement.

Meanwhile, a Facebook Marketplace advert for the stolen motorbike was posted by Brad Skidmore (19) of Dudley, but a vehicle driven by Beresford was pictured in the background.

Price and Shevlin continued targeting house in the Bala area - spending hours in some properties - with CCTV showing the pair moving items around in one address before they were disrupted by occupiers.

In total, Price and his men had been responsible for 17 thefts between August and October 2022.

Then in February 2023, serious and organised crime officers from North Wales Police led a series of raids across Shropshire and the West Midlands, where a number of the stolen items were recovered.

By May, the gang had been charged after detectives had found evidence using forensic techniques, mobile phone data analysis and travel patters.

The court heard the same gang had also been responsible for a similar spree of thefts in rural Shropshire, where an increase in burglaries prompted West Mercia Police to launch their own investigation in July 2023.

Only a small proportion of the property stolen in Gwynedd was recovered.

Price was sentenced to nine years in prison, while Rodgerson was given three years and one month, Taylor was jailed for two and a half years and Shevlin was sentenced to a year and two months.

Last September at Mold Crown Court, Beresford, Skidmore and Lloyd were all given suspended sentences, while a fourth defendant, Liam Griffiths (32) of Dudley was ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work.

Following setencing on Monday, Detective Constable Rebecca Williams from North Wales Police said: "I welcome today’s sentences for this organised gang of criminals who stole high-value agricultural equipment and property from a number of rural areas of Gwynedd."

"Thefts of this nature deprive farming families of the tools that they need to carry out their work, who are already stretched to the limit."

"They have a significant impact on businesses and families both financially and emotionally, with many rural communities left feeling vulnerable and intimidated."

"This group’s crimes also left some victims living in fear of another incident taking place, on what is not only their workplace, but also their family homes."

"We are committed to pursuing and disrupting those who commit such crimes, wherever they may come from."

"I would also like to thank colleagues from neighbouring forces who have supported us in this operation to bring these offenders to justice."