A MANHUNT has been launched for career criminal Nathan Hibberd.
Police are searching for the 38-year-old who has already been locked up four times after committing 199 burglaries.
He is now wanted in connection with break-ins in Henry Road, Kingsholm, and Coronation Grove, Wotton, on Tuesday afternoon.
Crimestoppers are offering up to £1,000 for information leading to his arrest.
Police are also searching for another suspected burglar.
He is accused of setting a distraction fire at Geoff Cook Framing and then attempting to burgle the Language Immersion Centre opposite.
The blaze destroyed £50,000 of rare books and left business owner Mr Cook distraught.
Two men are believed to have broken into the back of the Commercial Road centre sometime between 11.10pm on Friday night and 12.30am on Saturday last week.
They ran off empty-handed after the alarms went off and alerted police.
Officers nabbed a 30-year-old man at Gloucester Cricket Ground at about 1am on Saturday morning.
He was arrested on suspicion of arson, burglary in connection with the arson and burglary.
He was bailed until Wednesday but failed to show up at Gloucester police station and officers are now trying to trace him.
Hibberd, wanted for the house burglaries, has a criminal record of more than 25 years. His first house burglary was in 1992.
He was jailed for three and a half years in 1999 for 62 burglaries, for four years in 2001 for 54 burglaries, and four-and-a-quarter years in 2005 for 41 burglaries.
He was jailed again in 2009 for four-and-a-half years after admitting 42 burglaries in Gloucester.
Police believe there are people in the city who know where the prolific criminal is and have appealed for information.
Chief Inspector Richard Burge said: "While Hibberd is not considered a threat to the public we would advise people not to approach him if they see him but to ring 999 straight away."
He is 5ft 5ins tall, of proportionate build, with dark brown curly hair. He may have a beard.
Call police on 101 or 999 quoting incident 320 of July 16.
Contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111, or at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.
