Thief caught minutes after stealing digger from Worksop

A thief who stole a digger was caught just minutes after it was seen being loaded onto a trailer in Worksop town centre.
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A member of the public spotted the digger being loaded onto a trailer on Memorial Avenue just before 6.15am this morning.

Police officers quickly started following the van that was towing the trailer and followed it along Blyth Road.

The vehicle was stopped less than 15 minutes later on the A1.

The van towing a digger, stolen from Worksop, was stopped by police on the A1.The van towing a digger, stolen from Worksop, was stopped by police on the A1.
The van towing a digger, stolen from Worksop, was stopped by police on the A1.
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A suspect immediately fled the vehicle but was tracked down.

A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of the theft of a motor vehicle. He remains in police custody.

The digger has been recovered along with a stolen van.

Sergeant Gregory Saxelby, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was as a great bit of work by response officers from Bassetlaw who very quickly responded to this report.

“Thanks to the vigilance of a member of the public were able to recover this very valuable machine and arrest a suspect within a matter of minutes.

“I would like to thank them for their quick-thinking and would also urge others to contact the police when they see this type of suspicious behaviour.

"We will respond and your call may very well lead us to a crime in progress.

“Tackling this kind of crime, which is often focussed on more rural areas, is a priority for us and we are currently working hard to catch offenders and prevent thefts from happening.”

Anyone with additional information about this incident is asked to call 101 quoting incident 55 of October 5 2021.