FOUR men who took part in raids on supermarkets have been jailed.

Leon Duffy, aged 22, Ryan Herrick, aged 23; Raymond Beaver, aged 27 and Michael Shortt, aged 25, committed raids on 30 stores in the south east.

The gang stormed supermarket branches late at night, terrifying staff with knives and crowbars to steal a total of £364,000.

Their campaign saw them target 30 Sainsbury's stores including those in Beckenham, Bromley, Chislehurst, Locksbottom, Crayford, Greenwich and New Cross.

They also robbed eight other stores, including Safeway, in Twin Tumps Way, Thamesmead.

Blackfriars Crown Court heard the robbers were able to outrun police by using a fleet of fast cars, including a Jaguar and an Audi worth £70,000.

The crooks blew most of their money on foreign holidays and designer clothes.

The five were eventually caught by police outside Sainsbury's in Liss, Hampshire, in December last year.

This followed a surveillance exercise called Operation Russia.

Duffy, of Sewell Road, Abbey Wood, and Herrick, of Shooters Hill Road, Woolwich, who admitted being involved in 11 of the raids, were jailed for 10 years each.

Beaver, of Church Manorway, Abbey Wood and Shortt, of Chalcombe Road, Abbey Wood, admitted involvment in five of the raids and were each jailed for nine years.

A fifth man, Karl Taylor, aged 22, of Shooters Hill Road, Woolwich, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.