A GANG of safecrackers who robbed the Pret-a-Manger sandwich chain of £81,000 and tried to rob a Harrow bank have been jailed for a total of 12 years.

International criminal Bisser Nicolov, 35, a Bulgarian of Old Windsor, led a professional team on a six-month spree across London and the south east, cutting into 24 safes with a thermic lance.

Michael King, 59, of Whitton, and Qasim Hussain, 27, of Bracknell, helped Nicolov break into 29 stores after discovering flaws in the company's security systems.

The crooks built tools specially designed for breaking its unique safes and door locks.

King was the getaway driver and lookout, while Hussain and Nicolov carried out the thefts. They wore protective clothes and gloves to avoid leaving DNA evidence and removed CCTV tapes after each raid, the Inner London Crown Court heard.

Nicolov, convicted of conspiracy to burgle, is also wanted for safecracking across eastern Europe. King and Hussain both admitted conspiracy to burgle.

A fourth man, Gennaro Farca, 32, is still at large after fleeing to Italy after his arrest.

Nicolov and Hussain were caught trying to break into a branch of the NatWest Bank in Harrow in December 2000.

The court heard how the gang first struck in July last year at the Pret-a-Manger branch in St Martin's Lane in the West End. Some stores were robbed several times and the gang caused £63,000-worth of damage.

Eventually, the Metropolitan and the City police united in a surveillance operation and the gang was followed to a store off Oxford Street.

They were arrested on their way out, with £1,500 in cash.

Jailing Nicolov for six years, and King and Hussain for three years each, Judge Lindsay Burn said: "I am not saying each of you was involved in each offence, but I am satisfied each played a part in this very serious conspiracy... conducted at a professional level, using professional equipment and professional skills."