Six men behind months of burglaries across north London - including one attempt where they barricaded a train station - have been sentenced.

Between May and November last year the gang targeted ATMs at businesses, as well as homes where they thought there might be valuables.

Van Whitelock, 28, of High Street, Barnet, was sentenced to eight years and eight months in total for conspiracy to commit burglary, possession of criminal property, and intent to supply cocaine.

Three other members of the gang - Barry Knowles, 30, of Belmont Street, Camden, Craig Jobbins-David, 32, of Maitland Park Villas, Hampstead, and Shaka Cole, 32, of Sydney Road, Muswell Hill - were found guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary and possession of criminal property.

Knowles got five years and ten months in prison, while Jobbins-David and Cole will spend four years behind bars.

Joshua Scott, 30, of Sawyer Close, Edmonton, was sentenced to 19 months for two counts of burglary, while Shumel Miah, 25, of Brittania Street, Camden, was given a 16 month suspended sentence.

All six had pleaded guilty to their crimes.

One significant failed burglary was when the gang tried to break into the ATM at Enfield Chase station, indirectly causing huge inconvenience for commuters.

They arrived at the station at around 2.15am on June 14, 2015, in a white Ford Transit and dressed in high visibility clothing, hard hats and face masks like those worn by railway workmen. They unloaded cutting equipment from the van and boarded up the station entrance with wooden panels.

They left empty handed, but returned the next evening. This time Miah and Cole were stopped by police, but were not arrested and tipped off their friends, who fled leaving the station boarded up – which stopped commuters getting in the next day.

Detective Sergeant Peter MacDonald said: "This group committed organised, professional burglaries specifically targeting high value residential addresses in London and the Home Counties.

"The public venues they targeted caused inconvenience to community and the victims of the residential burglaries have the unenviable task of coming to terms with being a victim of crime - the effects of which run far deeper than a loss of property. I hope that the sentences handed down today bring the victims a measure of comfort and closure."

The gang meticulously removed CCTV from inside every one of the venues they burgled, leaving no interior footage of the crimes.

But on November 11, officers arrested Whitelock, Knowles, Jobbins-David and Cole after they were seen driving around looking for homes to target in Hertfordshire.

Scott and Miah were arrested in December and January.

Following the arrests, officers found a storage unit controlled by the group containing approximately £11,000 cash. At the time of arrest, Whitelock and Knowles, were on licence for other burglary offences.

Whitelock had worked on repairing Kingsway Tunnel after a fire, with BBC footage seen by police showing he had access to the safety clothing used by his gang in their crimes.

Detective Inspector James Hale said: "This was an audacious series of crimes that were often committed in broad daylight with the gang dressed as workmen.

"I would like to congratulate my team that has worked tirelessly to bring these offenders to justice presenting a wealth of compelling evidence against them. I am very pleased that their hard work has paid off."

Five of the men were sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on Friday, July 1, while Scott was sentenced on Monday, July 4.