A woman has been spared jail after stealing sweets from an ice cream van and meat and a barbeque from shops across West Sussex.

Chloe Smith, 32, stole nearly £100 worth of beef, gammon and Fairy stain remover from Farm Foods before going on to steal a bistro and parasol set worth more than £160 from Asda.

Smith, of Beach Road in Littlehampton, also took sweets from an ice cream van and a number of food items from Greggs in thefts across Littlehampton town centre over the space of months.

She was spared jail after admitting shoplifting and vehicle offences in a court hearing last month.

Crawley Magistrates Court heard how Smith first took the meat and stain removers from Farm Foods in Wick Street in May before going on to take the barbeque set from the Asda superstore in Ferring in October.

Smith admitted three shoplifting offences as well as two counts of vehicle interference and one count of theft from the ice cream van.

She was handed an eight-week suspended prison sentence.

Sussex Police inspector Ross Wickings said: “Our teams worked hard to secure these charges and will continue to do so where individuals impact our communities.

“As well as working with partners where appropriate, we always seek to identify longer term solutions to problems wherever we can.”