SEVERAL of Basingstoke's most prolific burglars commit crime to fund their drug habits, the town's top police officer has said.

Home Office research has shown a strong link between drugs and crime nationally, and Superintendent Alison Queen said Basingstoke is no exception.

"Drug-taking impacts on burglary and vehicle crime," she said.

"Burglary is a very intrusive type of offence and tends to be committed by a very small group of prolific criminals. These are the more desperate offenders who don't just want to commit crime - they feel that they need to.

"They have to get property to sell in order to buy drugs. If they have got a £100- a-day drug habit, they have got to steal property that's worth £300 because when they sell it on, they will get less money for it."

Supt Queen (pictured above) - who praised The Gazette's "Burglary - Let's Beat It" campaign - said she is hoping to clamp down on prolific burglars by encouraging beat bobbies in Basingstoke to carry out spot-checks at their homes.

"They will be able to knock on their doors at any time of the day to see what they are up to," she said.

The legal system has recently handed out fairly lengthy sentences to some local drug-addicted burglars.

Heroin addict and prolific offender Seth Skipp, 30, of Fountain Close, Popley, Basingstoke, was jailed for four years in September, 2003, after a drug rehabilitation programme he was put on instead of receiving a jail sentence for burglary failed and he committed more crimes.

Another repeat offender, Michael Cooper, 23, of Barrett Court, had taken a cocktail of alcohol and drugs when he raided a home in Camfield Close, Basingstoke, in May, 2002.

That burglary ended in disaster when the victim's neighbour, pensioner Eddie Brixton, rugby-tackled Cooper to the floor and subsequently suffered a fatal heart attack.

Cooper was sentenced to 42 months in prison when he appeared at Winchester Crown Court in December, 2002.

Graeme Nice, of the Community Drugs Service, which works with addicts, said drug users in Basingstoke often spend between £20 and £50 a day on their habit and some have been known to spend £100.

"You must not underestimate what it's like to have a drug addiction," he said.

"It's like the film Trainspotting. "There are horrific withdrawal symptoms that go on for days and people take more drugs in order to stop it.

"If they do that, they have to pay for it."

He said that drug treatment and training orders, which are often given out by courts to people who commit crimes to support their habits, require the offenders to show signs of working towards coming off drugs through repeated drugs testing.

"These appear to be effective in Basingstoke.

"But you may find that even when some people come off drugs, they still commit crime because it's in their nature," said Mr Nice.