Police found a man hiding under a parked car after chasing a stolen vehicle through the streets, then hunting the driver on foot.

They had been involved in a pursuit along Varndean Road and Surrenden Road in Brighton just hours after the start of a crackdown on car crime in the Hollingdean and Preston Park areas of the city.

Named Operation Shaft, it is designed to identify and target car theft hotspots and remove the most prolific thieves. It was first carried out before Christmas.

Inspector Steve Curry said: "It made the operation all worthwhile and goes to show we have got a small number of individuals who are relentlessly committing crime and the principle of targeting these offenders is working."

Mr Curry described how police had received a call about two men breaking into a car in Varndean Road on Friday night.

Officers arrived little more than a minute later. One man had already disappeared while the other jumped into a car, which was also later found to be stolen, and sped off.

Police were able to monitor the driver's movements from car to car without having to drive at breakneck speed themselves.

Mr Curry said: "What we don't want to do is endanger ourselves and the public by having to drive at ridiculous speeds when it is better to observe where the offenders are going and try to get them when they get out of the car."

Seven people were arrested during the patrols on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.