A serial cycle thief who fed his gambling addiction by stealing more than 80 bicycles from railway stations was jailed for two-and-a-half years today.

Muharrem Sener, 26, spent more than a year touring the South East armed with a pair of bolt cutters targeting high value models left by mainly Home Counties commuters.

After checking nobody was looking, he snipped through the security chains, donned a helmet to look the part, and rapidly rode off.

On some occasions, when his need for cash was greatest, he turned up in a van and simply loaded several models at a time in the back.

One of his favourites was Worthing Station, which provided rich pickings.

The four bikes he raced off with from there - on separate days - were worth nearly £3,800.

On one day alone he made off with three bikes worth more than £1,200 from Woking, Surrey, London's Southwark Crown Court heard.

He so enjoyed the opportunities it offered, he returned and stole a fourth.

However, the most expensive two-wheeler, valued at £3030, came from Hitchin station, Hertfordshire.

Once he decided he had enough for one day he returned to his home in London's East End and set about finding new owners for the bikes - often for a fraction of their real value.

Charles John-Jules, prosecuting, said although the defendant was caught repeatedly on CCTV committing his crime, he somehow managed to remain free, a fact the judge described as "surprising".

His downfall was finally triggered by a need for a change of scenery.

In June this year he abandoned his usual haunts, caught a train to Bristol, pulled out his bolt cutters and went to work.

But he was spotted, arrested and later given a curfew.

Robert Brown, defending, explained: "It was his bad luck the Bristol conviction led police to realise he was responsible for all the other thefts as well."

By the time officers finished doing their sums, they discovered Sener's one-man crime wave had accounted for no less than 83 bikes worth £33,000 stolen from dozens of stations across five counties.

Apart from West Sussex, and Surrey - the worst hit - he also struck in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Cambridgeshire.

Today Sener, of Roman Road, Bethnal Green, London, pleaded guilty to 28 thefts between August 6 2008 and June 12 2009, and asked for 55 similar offences to be considered.

The court heard his bike thieving began in 2003. Despite repeated arrests resulting in conditional discharges and community orders, his "underlying addiction to gambling" prevented him from learning his lesson, said Mr Brown.

Insisting his client was "not a danger to the public", the barrister said he had now realised how stupid he had been.

"He has spent 49 days in custody. Had he known how hard it was, he certainly wouldn't have embarked on this string of offences."

But Judge John Price told the thief he had no alternative but to make sure he remained behind bars even longer.

"You were caught on camera so many times it is surprising it took so long to arrest you.

"The courts have really done everything but send you to prison to try and stop you doing this and it hasn't worked.

"What you have done is an organised, pre-meditated and systematic theft of people's bicycles.

"You have gone around that corner of England, sometimes with a van to collect the bicycles you were stealing. They were of high quality.

"The theft of bicycles is absolutely rife. When people come from a hard day's work, the last thing they want to find is their bike has gone. This is really an epidemic which is happening an awful lot, and yours is an extremely bad case," he added.