A LORRY driver tipped off police he had seen a man trying to break into sheltered housing in Worcester in the early hours, a court was told.

Patrolling officers found that an alarm had gone off in a ground floor flat in London Road and a man was in the toilet, said Charles Hardy, prosecuting.

The resident was still asleep in bed at 3am on June 7 last year and the intruder was arrested.

Steven Edwards, aged 29, of New Bank Street, off Droitwich Road, Worcester, pleaded guilty at Worcester Crown Court to the burglary and was jailed for 12 months.

Edwards, said to have 11 convictions for 13 offences, told police that he had climbed in through an open window “out of curiosity” and had not taken anything. He was walking home after he had been drinking.

His counsel, Adam Weston, said his last serious conviction was for robbery nine years ago. He was intoxicated and had not targeted the flat and the occupant had only awoken when police with sirens arrived.

While on remand in prison, Edwards had taken steps to deal with his alcohol problem and was attending Alcoholics Anonymous. He hoped to gain a qualification for cookery.

Judge John Cavell said Edwards had made an early guilty plea and accepted that the defendant had not targeted the home of a vulnerable man.