A DRUG addict with a history of breaking into vehicles has been warned to steer clear of car theft or face jail.

Gary Stoiles, 28, of Colne Road, Burnley has been made the subject of an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO)in a bid to stop his prolific offending.

Magistrates imposed the order after Stoiles was yesterday convicted of stealing from vehicles for the sixth time in three years.

On the last occasion, in November, he stole CDs and a mobile phone from a car left in the car park of Gala Bingo as a police trap.

Police applied for the ASBO on the back of the latest conviction.

He will now be banned for two years from interfering with any vehicle without the owner's consent. If he breaches the order he could face up to five years in jail.

A second clause not to enter any car park in the borough was dismissed by magistrates as disproportionate and unworkable.

Prosecutor Silvia Dacre said: "Every theft causes distress to the owner of a vehicle and this order is necessary to prevent any further acts."

Richard Taylor, defending, said Stoiles was an "entrenched" drug addict but was seeking treatment for his habit. He applied to magistrates for a drug and treatment testing order, which was granted.

He said: "It is wholly unnecessary to make an Anti-Social Behaviour Order. We are trying to get him off drugs and hopefully that is what will happen."

Stoiles faces a 12-month drug treatment programme at the Community Drug Treatment centre, Westgate in Burnley where he will be subject to rigorous testing.