A HERO neighbour has been rewarded by a judge after catching burglars breaking into a house.

At Bolton Crown Court the Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge Timothy Clayson ordered that Neil Austen be paid £100 from public funds.

"It is a token of public appreciation for such action which was courageous and undoubtedly led to the detection of this crime," said the judge.

Kieran Ince, aged 21, and Connor Knott, aged 18, both of no fixed address, were each sentenced to 876 days in a young offenders' institution after admitting burgling the house in Raleigh Close, Horwich, on August 23.

Lindsay Thomas, prosecuting, told how Mr Austen was watching television at 1.40am when he spotted two men trying door handles in the street.

He activated his CCTV system and went outside to find a garage door at his neighbours' home slightly ajar.

Looking inside he saw two men and the internal door leading to the house was open. The house owners, a married couple, were in bed asleep at the time.

Quick thinking Mr Austen pulled the garage door down in an attempt to trap the burglars, but they forced it upwards.

Mr Austen managed to hang on to Ince, helped a short time later by two other neighbours who detained the thief until police arrived.

Knott escaped, but was caught a short time later by police dogs.

The court heard the couple had only moved into the house a few weeks earlier and have been badly affected by the break in.

Both Ince and Knott have previous convictions for burglary.

Judge Clayson praised Mr Austen's determination to intervene.