Restaurant workers gave chase across fields after two Eastbourne men broke into a caravan, Lewes Crown Court heard.

Jamie Field and Stanley Forrest were eventually caught by police who used a dog to track them down.

Field, 22, of Linden Close, and Forrest, 26, of Milfoil Drive, admitted stealing property worth £1,700 from the caravan and were both jailed for 12 months.

Field was jailed for a further three months after he admitted possessing heroin and failing to answer bail.

The court heard the men were spotted acting suspiciously by the caravan, parked by a family at the Little Chef at Pevensey in August last year.

Ian Hope, prosecuting, said the family, who had been on holiday in France and were returning to their home in Southampton, were having a meal when staff saw the two men.

When the family returned to the caravan they realised it had been broken into and their property stolen, including three cameras, a mobile phone, food, clothes and shoes.

The two men were seen running away and staff gave chase as they fled across nearby fields.

At one stage, one of the workers managed to grab hold of one of the men as he climbed over a fence. He kicked out at her and she let go and pushed him. He fell into a ditch.

Police arrived with a dog to track them down and they were traced to a copse. Forrest was found hiding in a horse box. Field gave up running and stood smoking a cigarette.

A rucksack containing the property was found in a ditch full of water.

The court heard both men, who have previous convictions for theft and dishonesty, had been heroin addicts at the time of the offence and were now trying to change their lives.