THREE men were arrested after two properties were burgled in Scarborough.

North Yorkshire Police were called by a concerned resident of Wheatcroft Avenue after she saw three men enter her 81-year-old neighbour’s bungalow at about 7.30am on Monday.

Police discovered the victim had been pushed over as the burglars fled, and a patio door was smashed in the escape.

Later that morning, at about 10.35am, an elderly disabled woman disturbed three men at the kitchen window of her Tricourt home, one of whom was attempting to get inside.

She called the police, and three men, all from the Merseyside area, were arrested.

Police also found a vehicle nearby which was believed to have been stolen from the Liverpool area.

Chief Inspector Dave Foster, of Scarborough Safer Neighbourhood, said: “Thanks to the quick thinking of both the elderly victim and the alert neighbour, officers located the suspects very quickly and took them into police custody.

“Burglary is distressing for any victim, but targeting the elderly is cowardly and deplorable.”

The three men were charged with various burglary offences, and theft of a car and number plates.