BURGLARS have been busy recently in the Winchester area.

Jewellery worth hundreds of pounds was stolen from a house in Abbotts Close, Abbotts Barton, yesterday.

The haul included cufflinks, a pocket watch, a gold ring, and various silver plates.

Public houses have also been targeted. Thieves stole an undisclosed amount of cash from fruit machines after breaking in to the Bridge Hotel in Shawford, near Winchester.

At the Rising Sun, in Colden Common, £340 was snatched from two gaming machines.

At Lankhills School, Andover Road, a hedge trimmer was taken from an outbuilding.

At a building in Frampton Way, Kings Worthy, 24 cans of lager and a drill valued at £90 were stolen. And at Piping Green, Colden Common, burglars forced a rear patio door but failed to get inside.