A prolific offender was given the fright of his life when an officer jumped out from behind a bush to apprehend him.

On Tuesday evening, police were called to the Feniscowles area of Blackburn after receiving numerous calls about a man acting suspiciously in the area and trying to break into cars and houses.

At around 11.20pm, a number of patrols attended after officers recognised the description of the man as being one of their known prolific offenders.

According to officers, a new covert tactic was deployed in order to catch the man.

A spokesperson for the police said: "We decided to try out a new tactic by having one of our officers hide in a bush and wait to pounce.

"As expected the male didn't suspect our new tactic and was even more shocked when the officer jumped out shouting 'surprise' to apprehend him.

"The male has now recovered from shock and is currently residing in one of our finest rooms at Greenbank, and of course by finest we mean a room without a view.

"With the success of this new tactic there are talks on the team of investing in some new uniforms to improve our hide and seek game."