Two men who broke into an underground car park and were caught by police 12 minutes later have been ordered to complete a total of 80 hours of community service.

Andrew Proctor, 25, of Sheridan Road, Richmond, and Lee Buckley, 23, of Anslem Road, Hammersmith, pleaded guilty to burglary at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Monday, April 13.

The pair were arrested on January 13 after security staff at gated community Lawley, Clevedon Road, Twickenham, were informed that an alarm in the underground car park had been set off at 3.28am.

Two men were seen on CCTV walking between cars and looking inside and, while one security guard watched the pair remotely another went to the car park.

The duo ran from the security guard and jumped over the gates but were then seen getting into a black Mini before driving toward Richmond Bridge.

Within 12 minutes since they were first seen in the car park, Proctor and Buckley were stopped by police in Sheridan Road, Ham, and arrested at 3.40am.

Detective constable Paul Carlson said: "Within 10 minutes of police receiving the call from the security staff our response team colleagues managed to apprehend Proctor and Buckley.

"This was excellent work from the security officers who alerted us to the pair.

"By positioning the CCTV cameras to the area being broken into the staff managed to get the numberplate of the car used in their getaway enabling us to respond quickly resulting in their immediate arrest."

The pair were each given 40 hours of community service at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on April 13.