A PROPERTY developer turned detective on social media after catching burglars vandalising the new home he is building.

Nick Howcroft, aged 50, posted the footage and pictures on his Facebook page following the raid on the house in Little Lever on Saturday.

Within just a couple of hours, a video he had uploaded onto his personal Facebook page had been shared more than 2,000 times. Mr Howcroft said that he was ‘overwhelmed’ with responses and delighted that users had named the pair. He said: “I would like to thank the people of Facebook and social media in general for their quick response.

“It is a very powerful weapon these days and can do lots of good in a time when people talk about its downfalls. I am also glad that I have CCTV recording on all of my sites. It was a good investment."

Businessman Mr Howcroft explained how he discovered the two burglars. He said: “I came back to check up on the house at 7.15pm on Saturday but when I went in, everything was wrecked. It was a real mess. They didn’t take much, or nothing of any value but it looked as though they just wanted to trash the place really.

“Because this has happened to me before I called my builder to explain what had happened who said he would be round first thing in the morning to assess the damage.

“I then left the property for a couple of hours but when I got back on site I saw an older man outside the security fencing.

“He was in the skip just rummaging through it but he looked about 40 years old and a bit scruffy so I didn’t really put two-and two together but I took out my phone and started videoing him.

“He said he was in the skip ‘just taking bits and bats’ and to be honest I felt sorry for him.

“I said to him that what he was doing was theft and told him to get out of the skip and clear off and thought nothing of it.

“He said to me he was homeless and was living in a tent.

“After that he left but I didn’t really cotton on at the time that it might have been him who had done the house because he was an older chap and the house was wrecked. I thought it was more likely to be kids.

After the man had left Mr Howcroft went into the house to take videos of the damage.

He said: “They had thrown spades around, smashed temporary windows, thrown nails and screws all over the place, the heater was thrown down the stairs and temporary lights had been pulled down. It was a real mess.

“Like last time I got burgled, I didn’t call police right away as I wanted to collate the evidence from my videos.

“This morning me and the builder went through everything and put it all on Facebook, since then so many people have helped me out.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Greater Manchester police on 101.