TWO teenage boys have been arrested after residents watched them try to steal a Ford Escort in Northolt.

A couple, neighbours of the car's owner, heard the pair, aged 15 and 17, breaking into the car and called the police.

The youths broke into the vehicle, which was parked in Dabs Hill Lane, at around 2am on Saturday, August 18, and attempted to hotwire it.

When they could not get it started, they left the area, along with two girls who were with them.

But one of the neighbours, a 55-year-old man, who had watched their efforts, went out to look for them.

He spotted them at a bus stop, told police where they were, and officers arrested them on suspicion of attempted theft.

The pair have been released on police bail, pending further inquiries, and are due to return to Acton police station on Tuesday, September 18.