Major police probe as thieves crash and burn stolen vehicles in Wigan

One demolished three garden walls, another was obliterated by flames in a field and third was set alight then pushed into the canal.

On each occasion the occupants fled the scene.

At least two of the vehicles were among an astonishing 14 cars snatched in the early hours of Monday September 12 from a used car dealership in Haydock.

Ever since, police have been recovering them – sometimes wrecked beyond salvage – in various parts of the North West.

The first Wigan incident happened at around midnight on Tuesday September 13 when an out-of-control Ford Focus slammed into the garden walls of three neighbouring houses in Lily Lane, Bamfurlong.

The car was destroyed in the multiple impacts and rubble was thrown across the road, but the occupants managed to scramble free of the wreckage and make their escape on foot.

Thankfully no innocent parties were injured.

A fire crew from Hindley was called because smoke was coming out of the vehicle, but it was quickly dealt with.

At almost the same time, crews from Wigan, Leigh and Eccles were called to Dover Lock at Abram where an Audi Q7 had been torched and then rolled into the canal.

Although witnesses had seen people abandoning in the vehicle, a water safety team was required to search its interior to make sure no-one was trapped inside.

The technical response unit from Leigh was also needed as the Audi – which had been gutted by the flames – was winched out of the water.

Then shortly before 7am, Hindley firefighters were out again after a dog walker spotted smoke pluming from the burnt wreckage of a car on a dirt track to Barlow’s Farm off Bickershaw Lane, Bickershaw.

Crew manager Geoff Wilde said: “When we got there it was obvious that the car had been burning for maybe up to two hours and there was very little left of it.

"You could see where it had been driven around the fields before being set on fire. It may have been a Toyota Yaris but it was difficult to tell because it was so badly damaged.

"Police at the scene of the crash on Lily Lane said that a dozen or so cars had been stolen from some kind of lot in Haydock after the keys were taken.

"After that they had been recovering the cars ever since. The Bamfurlong one was the sixth of seven to be found.

"They said the one in the canal was another and maybe the one off Bickershaw Lane is another but I imagine there will have to be more investigations, not least because of the state of the vehicle.”

A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: “We are appealing for information following the theft of a number of vehicles from a used car dealership in Haydock in the early hours of Monday morning, 12 September.

“At around 2.40am it was reported that 14 vehicles were stolen from Vision Direct Motors on Haydock Industrial Estate.

“It was further reported that several cars were recovered after being abandoned in Haydock and Wigan.

“An investigation is being carried out and enquiries are ongoing, including examining CCTV footage.

“Officers are appealing for anyone with CCTV and dashcam footage from the area at the time, anyone who witnessed suspicious behaviour to please get in touch.

“Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact @MerPolCC on Twitter or ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ on Facebook with reference 22000680650.”