Police caught a burglar red-handed trying to break into three different homes at a housing complex in the Famagusta area in the early hours of Monday, they said.

Following a number of complaints of burglary by residents in the complex, police put the site under surveillance on Sunday night.

Around 2.30am, officers spotted a man wearing gloves and with his face covered with scarf, trying to open the sliding door of a house but without success.

He tried the sliding doors on two more homes, again without success, before police intervened.

The suspect ran off but officers managed to nab him. They said he resisted arrest and attacked the officers with his hands.

It was established that the man is a 53-year-old resident of Larnaca.