Two men who brazenly walked off with a Samsung tablet from a shop display window were caught after Watford's town enforcement officer spotted the theft and followed them down the street.

Ioan Barbu, 21, of Blacklands Street, Birmingham, and Sammuel Gheorghe, 20, of Tewson Road, London, targeted BrightHouse retail store at 11.20am in early January.

They were seen acting suspiciously in the High Street store, by Watford Borough Council's town enforcement officer, who asked not to be named.

He said: "I was walking past, took a glimpse in the window and caught two men acting suspiciously.

"One had his back towards the staff and the other had some wire cutters and they were yanking the barricades back to take the tablet from the display stands.

"It is a big window and they were standing right by it. I told the manager what was happening and contacted the PCSO team. I followed the men down the High Street and asked the CCTV team to monitor them."

The pair went into intu shopping centre, where they were arrested after attempting to cut the security cable from a tablet computer that they had taken from BrightHouse.

They later pleaded guilty to the attempted theft of a Samsung tablet from the store and going equipped to steal with a pair of wire cutters.

Barbu was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison while Gheorghe was given 12 weeks in a young offender institution. Both were ordered to pay an £80 victim surcharge.

The town enforcement officer has a range of powers including issuing fines to people who drop litter.

Safer Neighbourhood Sergeant for Watford, Simon Mason added: "We had police officers on proactive patrol in the town at the time so they were able to quickly attend and make the arrests."