VANDALS ran along a York street throwing bins and rubbish into the road - but were caught red-handed by police.

CCTV footage of the group's short-lived spree has today been released.

Three men are caught on the film deliberately knocking over wheelie bins in Gillygate and throwing rubbish into the road. But while they are still committing the offence, police arrive and make them pick up the rubbish and bins again.

No further legal action is being taken over the incident, which happened at about 2.30am on Tuesday, January 7. 

City of York Council released the footage, in conjunction with North Yorkshire Police, in the hope of deterring other potential offenders.

Coun Linsay Cunningham-Cross, council cabinet member for crime and stronger communities, said: “This was a wasteful antic which thankfully was spotted quickly by our CCTV operatives and dealt within a matter of minutes by North Yorkshire Police.

"The council provides an essential service for residents, visitors, businesses and emergency services that helps to keep our city safe. Working with the police this case demonstrates that our state-of-the-art technology has helped to keep residents safe and protected our communities from crime.”

Superintendent Phil Cain, York Safer Neighbourhood Commander, said: “This particular incident was quickly spotted by CCTV operators allowing police officers to be on the scene within minutes to deal with the situation before it could cause too much concern or upset to the general public.

"I commend the officers involved for dealing with the incident in a sensible and proportionate manner and hopefully the lads in question will learn some lessons from this and improve their conduct in the future.”

He said the incident highlighted the "fantastic partnership working" between the police and council.

The council said the incident demonstrated the capabilities of the York Travel and Control Centre and their work with police.

Each month on average, the centre monitors over 1,000 hours of live CCTV footage, records over 550 incidents and provides police with 40 pieces of evidence.

The council says its centre is one of the most advanced council CCTV control centres in the country.