break-in where a cheeky thief locked himself in a room so he could carry out a search.

Between Friday morning and yesterday morning two burglaries, four house break-ins and one hotel break-in were reported to Police.

In one break-in, a woman told officers that someone broke into her Happy Valley home through her son's bedroom window -- and locked himself in while he searched the room.

The incident happened at about 5 a.m. on Saturday and Police spokesman Sgt Chris Wilcox said: "When the woman called out to the intruder, he apparently locked himself into the bedroom and proceeded to search through a cabinet looking for money.

"Finding nothing, he went out through the same window and escaped.''