Conman posed as sports official.

A thief who posed as an official to plunder pounds 45,000 in cash and valuables from rugby and cricket clubs across England was jailed for three and a half years yesterday.

When he was arrested, Middlesbrough-born Alan Phillips, 52, of no fixed address, was asleep in his car.

He pleaded guilty to one offence of burglary, three of theft, and asked for 35 offences to be considered when he appeared at Taunton Crown Court in Somerset.

The court heard Phillips carried out the thefts between February 2003 and August this year.

He visited cricket and rugby clubs throughout England posing as a club official before his arrest in Somerset in summer. He had previously served 18 months of a two-year sentence handed down in 2001 for 239 similar offences.

DC Rebecca Maddison, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: "Phillips was a very cool customer, acting the grey man in clubs across the country from Cornwall to Scotland.

"We have managed to get some of the valuables back to the clubs, but a lot has gone,pounds she said.

"I still have 60 empty black wallets here, but did have 150 that have been safely returned."

Phillips initially admitted to thefts at four Cumbria rugby clubs and six others, but then listed another 40 rugby and cricket clubs across the country.