A Waltham Forest gang who used high-tech equipment to steal luxury cars worth almost £700,000, have been jailed for more than 12 years.

Hassan Iqbal, 26, and Farasat Bhamjee, 28, Adeel Arshad, 29, and Ben Cooper, 21, stole vehicles, the majority of which were Range Rovers, using sophisticated car security technology.

They carried out their offences in areas likely to be frequented by drivers of high-value vehicles, such as wealthy areas of London and shopping centres.

Once a suitable vehicle was identified, the gang would tail-gate the vehicle, to enable them to park nearby.

They would then wait for the driver to leave the vehicle and attempt to lock it.

At this point, the gang member would activate a jamming device, preventing the vehicle from being locked. In the majority of cases the victims believed their cars were secure and walked away.

At this point entry was gained to the unsecure vehicle and an onboard diagnostic device would be connected to the vehicle's computer, enabling a new key code to be issued to one of the Range Rover fobs in their possession.

The vehicle was then driven away from the owner's address to a location where any legitimate tracking device on the vehicle was removed.

Police launched an investigation after establishing a link between a number of the crimes, and subsequently arrested Arshad, Iqbal and Bhamjee in a stolen Range Rover.

A garage controlled by Arshad and Bhamjee was found to contain tracking devices, Range Rover fobs, jammers and GPS 'cloaking' devices.

Four vehicles have now been recovered by police in containers ready for export at both Felixstowe and Southampton docks and returned to their owners.

Bhamjee, of Northumberland Road, Walthamstow, was jailed for 46 months, while Arshad, of Church Road, Leyton, was sentenced to 44 months.

Iqbal, of Helena Road, Walthamstow, was jailed for 35 months and Cooper, of Beavon Close, Huntingdon, was given a sentence of 25 months.