Two men have been given jail sentences for their part in a £400,000 car-breaking scam.

Police uncovered a thriving large-scale "chop-shop" for stolen vehicles when they raided M Breakers, a court heard.

The enterprise, run from Grosvenor Works in Manningham Lane, cut up cars stolen in house burglaries, robberies and thefts.

In all, 53 stolen vehicles were linked to the garage, prosecutor Jonathan Sandford told Leeds Crown Court.

In the dock were David Worsnop, 27, of Lilian Street, Dudley Hill, and Abubaker Amin, 21, of Southfield Square, Manningham.

Each had pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy to handle stolen vehicles.

Worsnop, who worked on the administrative side of the business, was jailed for six month.

He is currently serving a four-year prison term for a drugs offence and his sentence will run concurrently. Amin was sentenced to 12 months in jail suspended for two years and ordered to pay £250 legal costs. Mr Sandford said that the two brothers who ran the breaking yard were each jailed for three and a half years.

Ishtiaq Zahir, 25, and his 26-year-old brother Israr had processed around £400,000 in vehicles from the yard.

Mr Sandford said the cars were given new identities and sold to unsuspecting members of the public via Autotrader magazine, the internet, car auctions and direct sales.

Amin, who pleaded guilty to a second conspiracy charge centred on a unit in Trafalgar Street, was seen by police at M Breakers and linked to the scam by fingerprint evidence.

Mr Sandford said that police found six complete stolen cars at Grosvenor Works and parts from a further 42. Five others were traced that had been ringed and sold on. One vehicle had been stolen only the previous day.

"The enterprise was ongoing at the time. It was interrupted by the police," Mr Sandford said. He said the business posted a website for its customers and they could pay by credit card.

Up to 100 vehicle shells had been taken away from M Breakers before it was raided in November 2002.

The unit in Trafalgar Street was searched in May 2002 after Amin's landlord became suspicious.

Police found three stolen vehicles being dismantled with a total value of £28,000.

Judge Peter Benson said Amin was not a main mover in the conspiracies. He had made exceptional efforts to rehabilitate himself since he was released from a 54-month custody term in spring for a drugs crime.

Worsnop, who is serving a four-year jail term for a drugs offence, will be released on licence in the spring. His barrister Colin Harvey said he was only in on the tail end of the ringing conspiracy. He had been released from a jail sentence on October 11, 2002 - only a couple of weeks before police raided the premises.