TWO friends have been hailed as heroes by a judge after chasing down drunken sweet shop thieves.

Alexy Butler and Alexander Spence, both of Ambleside, were praised by Judge Batty and awarded £150 each after helping police stop six men stealing a £55 haul of sweets and toffees.

At Carlisle Crown Court, one of the thieves, Jason Marvin, 39, of Leysdown Road, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to burglary and was ordered to do 80 hours of unpaid community work.

He was also put under a 7pm to 6am curfew to keep him indoors at home for a month over the festive period and made to pay £400 costs.

Judge Batty told Marvin that he and his associates had failed to consider the attitude of Lakeland people.

He said: “I suspect the public spirited action of members of the public here in Cumbria is more than it would be in other parts of the country.”

Mr Butler, 34, said he responded on instinct when he and Mr Spence heard breaking glass across the road from his shop at Mountain Factor, Ambleside, late one evening last January.

“There were alarms going off everywhere and several men in their 30s had smashed a window,” he said. “It was an intimidating scene.”

“We live above our businesses and everyone relies on everyone else to look out for them – so I didn’t think twice about chasing them until after the event.”

The court was told that the thieves were in the Lake District to fit gymnasium equipment at the Low Wood Hotel, Ambleside, when they broke into the village’s Old Bridge House fudge shop.

Sweet shop owner Carl Scott, 54, said he had known Alexy Butler and Alexander Spence, 40, for more than 10 years and would expect nothing less of the pair.

“ I was mad about this,” he said. “The criminals weren’t kids.

“I was out at a local pub but ran back to help catch them.

“It’s something you come to expect in this village – everyone looks out for each other.”