A teenage burglar was caught by police tracker dogs after smashing his way into Sidmouth shops to steal booze.

The 15-year-old caused more than £900 worth of damage while stealing alcohol from Sidmouth's Self Serve Garage and Spar outlet.

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to three charges, including theft and burglary, at Exeter Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The teen caused £500 worth of damage to a door at Sidmouth Self-Serve garage and £440 to a window Spar at Temple Street in incidents in March.

Exeter magistrates imposed a four-month referral order for the defendant to work with the youth offending team and ordered him to pay a £20 victim surcharge.

The teenager pleaded guilty to one count of theft after stealing a £10 crate of Amstell beer from the garage on December 29 last year.

Prosecutor Shaun Tipton said the defendant entered the garage around 9.30pm with another person, who distracted the cashier, while he walked out without paying.

The defendant also pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary which occurred at the art of March this year.

He returned to the self-serve garage and smashed a large glass door to take a crate of beer, worth £20.

Mr Tipton said: "At the garage a large glass door was smashed and Stella Artois taken. He [the defendant] was identified by the store manager from CCTV. He had been banned from the store."

The next week, on Monday, March 11, the 15-year-old smashed a window at the Spar shop in Temple Street and stole a 12-pack of Carlsberg valued at £10.99.

Mr Tipton said the incident occurred at around 10.30pm and the defendant was with another youth before fleeing the scene.

He added: "There was a search by tracker dogs which led to the defendant."

The youngster had no previous convictions and in mitigation James Rickard said this would be a one-off spate of events.

The defendant said: "I was drunk at the time. I do not know what I was thinking at the time. I thought 'I wanted more drink, shall we go and do this?'

"It was quite stupid and I shouldn't have done it. It was not a smart idea. I won't think of doing it again. I won't put myself in that situation."