Eight men have appeared in court in connection with more than 75 high-value car thefts across south-west London.

The group of men, aged between 17 and 25, appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court yesterday on charges of conspiracy to commit burglary with intent and conspiring to steal cars.

It followed dawn raids at 10 addresses on Tuesday after thefts of Mercedes and BMWs from Kingston, Croydon, Sutton, Richmond, Merton, Wandsworth and Twickenham.

Police said thieves fished through letterboxes to steal car keys from inside before taking cars from driveways as the owners slept. The thefts were believed to be worth a total of £2m.

Sam Walton, 25, of Windrush, New Malden, Daniel Axeworthy, 22, of Acacia Grove, New Malden, Oliver Pendry, 20, of no fixed address, and Rico Persechino, 21, of Cotsford Avenue, New Malden, all faced charges relating to the burglaries.

Teenagers Craig Mills, 19, of Norberton Common Road, Kingston, Sam Woods, 19, of Sanger Avenue, Chessington, and two 17-year-olds, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were also in court.

Mr Woods and one of the 17-year-olds was given conditional bail.

The other 17-year-old was remanded in custody, along with the five other named defendants. They are due to appear at Kingston Crown Court on January 4.