Three Melbourne tradies have been praised for their courage and quick-thinking after chasing down and apprehending a burglar.

Reports say a tradesman gave chase to the burglar when he heard a motion alarm triggered, the chase took the men over several fences through residential backyards.

The commotion of the chase was noticed by two plumbers and a third man, they saw what was going on and moved quickly to catch the thief and call the police. The robbery happened in the Melbourne suburb of Carnegie around midday on June 20, the 33-year-old burglar was convicted late last week. The daring efforts of those involved have been described as “Neighbourhood Watch 101” by local police.

Sen-Constable Stefaniw praised the tradies' efforts, but also urged the community to leave policing to the police; "It's a perfect checklist of what we say to the community about being the eyes and ears of the police - we rely on the public,'' he said, “but we don't encourage the public to take on the role of police.''

Three Melbourne tradies have been praised for their courage and quick-thinking after chasing down and apprehending a burglar.

Reports say a tradesman gave chase to the burglar when he heard a motion alarm triggered, the chase took the men over several fences through residential backyards.

The commotion of the chase was noticed by two plumbers and a third man, they saw what was going on and moved quickly to catch the thief and call the police. The robbery happened in the Melbourne suburb of Carnegie around midday on June 20, the 33-year-old burglar was convicted late last week. The daring efforts of those involved have been described as “Neighbourhood Watch 101” by local police.

Sen-Constable Stefaniw praised the tradies' efforts, but also urged the community to leave policing to the police; "It's a perfect checklist of what we say to the community about being the eyes and ears of the police - we rely on the public,'' he said, “but we don't encourage the public to take on the role of police.''