A thief has gone to extraordinary lengths to steal four computer games and a video recorder.

Armed with nothing but a pair of scissors, Mika Hasegawa spent two weeks hacking through the four-inch shared wall between her and her neighbour's flat.

The heist, which took place in southern Japan, amazed local police who described how the inept thief stole her booty and tried to cover her tracks by placing a piece of cardboard over the hole which she left in the wall.