THE owner of a gun shop has been jailed for eight years for firearms offences.

Mark Billington, 55, of Cheddar Avenue, Westcliff, appeared at Basildon Crown Court yesterday and was sentenced to a total of eight years behind bars.

He received five years for two charges of selling a firearm and ammunition to an unauthorised person.

A further three years were added on for three counts of selling a shotgun to an unauthorised person, possessing a firearm  with a barrel less than 30cm long and for possessing ammunition without a certificate.

Billington was originally arrested in April 2014 at Alexandra Guns, in Market Place, Southend, following a long-running investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.