Hilarious CCTV footage shows the moment a bungling burglar on the hunt for booze crashes to the floor.

Red-faced Ricky Hodgkins is seen trying to sneak across kitchen counters after smashing a window to break into a café at Margate railway station.

Watch: CCTV shows burglar crash to the floor

But within seconds the thief mis-steps and falls on his face - before swiftly dusting himself off to continue the raid.

Moments earlier a member of staff had spotted Hodgkins' foot as it slipped through the broken window, at about 8pm on March 26.

The brave worker then challenged the burglar while he was stood inside the shop and called British Transport Police.

Officers arrived to find the 40-year-old on the station grounds with an armful of beer.

Hodgkins claimed he had bought the booze from Tesco. He was bleeding from his wrists and left knee but claimed it was from a fight earlier in the day.

Police also found empty bottles of wine and beer inside the café.

Hodgkins brazenly continued to deny any wrongdoing, even claiming he had been let inside the closed eatery by a staff member.

But he slipped up when he asked officers to get his carrier bag from inside the café. It was found behind a refrigerator below the broken window.

He later admitted burglary while he was in hospital being treated for his injuries.

Hodgkins, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to burglary, and to a criminal damage charge he received when he spat inside the police van taking him to custody.

He was jailed for 90 days at Canterbury Magistrates' Court on Saturday, March 28.

PC Gary Reader, of British Transport Police, said: “The footage is very conclusive. Despite his claims, Hodgkins clearly broke into the café on his hunt for more alcohol.

"He did it in plain sight, on video and left further evidence behind as he clambered into the building.

“Stations, and the shops within, are well covered by CCTV, and that’s evidence we’ll always use to identify criminals and make sure they see justice.”

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