A thief who stole more than £3,500 from car park ticket machines in High Wycombe has been jailed.

Charles Bamber, 34, repeatedly targeted Wycombe District Council car park ticket machines in the town and has now been imprisoned for 10 months.

At Aylesbury Crown Court on Tuesday, Bamber was sentenced to a total of 10 months’ imprisonment after admitting a total of 10 counts of criminal damage and 10 counts of theft from a parking ticket machine.

He was also ordered to pay £900 criminal court costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

Investigating officer, PC Rebecca Benfield of High Wycombe Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “Bamber repeatedly stole from car park machines, causing damage in the process.

“This is an excellent result which means a repeat offender no longer poses a threat to our community.”

The court heard how Bamber has damaged the machines and stole money from Wycombe car parks on a number of occasions.

Across three days in May he stole about £2,850, before taking more than £1,000 in other offences in July.

This week, he was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment for one count of theft from a car park ticket machine and two months’ imprisonment to run concurrently for criminal damage to the ticket machine at Swan car park on July 26. On this occasion Bamber stole £608.10.

His Honour Judge Francis Sheridan sat as a district judge to sentence Bamber to four months’ imprisonment for one count of theft from a car park ticket machine and two months’ imprisonment to run consecutively for one count of criminal damage to a ticket machine at Swan car park on July 17. Bamber stole £349.40.

Bamber was also found to be in breach of a suspended sentence and ordered to serve 18 weeks’ imprisonment to run concurrently.

The suspended sentence was handed down at Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on June 16 and suspended for two years after Bamber pleaded guilty to six counts of theft from a car park ticket machine and six counts of criminal damage to a ticket machine.

The offences happened on Sunday 17, Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 May 2015. Bamber stole about £2,850.