A NATIONWIDE hunt is underway for a serial criminal believed to have committed hundreds of burglaries throughout the Cotswolds and the south of England.

A £1,000 reward is being offered for information on the whereabouts of 33-year-old Peter Sonny Martin O'Halloran, who has been named on the national Crimestoppers most wanted website www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

O'Halloran, who sometimes goes by the name of Peter Sonny Noon or other aliases, has been a thorn in the side of police since he escaped from Ford open prison in February 2004.

An appeal on BBC TV's Crimewatch programme that year failed to elicit any responses.

In January 2005, the Journal reported that he was being linked to a series of 27 burglaries in south Warwickshire, including some in Shipston, Tredington, Long Compton, Great Wolford, Stourton, Alderminster, Halford, Welford-on-Avon, Haselor and Napton.

At the time, police also linked him to around 140 burglaries in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire and it was thought he had stolen millions of pounds worth of jewellery, silverware and antiques.

He is now believed to have committed a large number of burglaries in the Cotswolds, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, and Wiltshire. He may also have targeted homes in the West Mercia police area, Hampshire and Suffolk.

Detective Sergeant Dave Doherty of Gloucestershire Constabulary is leading the hunt for O'Halloran.

He said: "O'Halloran has evaded us for some time now and we firmly believe he is still active in targeting residential properties and stealing large values of jewellery amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

"We would appeal for anyone with information on his current whereabouts to get in touch, but not to try and apprehend him themselves as he is obviously extremely keen to evade arrest."

In January 2005, O'Halloran was described as white, around 5ft 10ins tall, with green eyes and short wavy brown hair. He has scars on his right forearm and large feet - size 14 or 15.

Anyone with information on O'Halloran's whereabouts should ring Gloucestershire Constabulary on 0845 090 1234, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.