A police chase in Stotfold has led to a man being arrested and charged with multiple burglaries as part of an operation to target an organised crime group suspected of being involved in a series of offences.

The suspect, a man in his 20s from Leighton Buzzard, was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of burglary after Bedfordshire Police officers chased him on foot. They had been acting on information from the community.

The man, who the police are not naming, was charged on Saturday with six counts of burglary in connection to offences in Stotfold, Biggleswade, Bedford and Luton.

Detective inspector Ali Whitworth said: “Burglary can have a devastating and long-lasting impact on victims, who understandably can be hugely traumatised by someone intruding into their home. We want to deal with these issues proactively and target those perpetrating this misery.

“This has been a major collective effort involving our intelligence, community and roads policing teams, as well as our dedicated burglary squad, and I want to thank everyone involved.

“The number of burglaries is down here in Bedfordshire and our Operation Maze team has had a number of success stories recently, including charging someone with 33 offences.

“This is work we will continue, so please keep helping us by reporting any information or suspicions.”

Anyone with any information can report it via Bedfordshire.police.uk/report.