Stolen haulage gear found in secret farm hiding place

An enormous JCB, two road rollers, a generator on a trailer and a caravan were among the items recovered by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) from Common Fold Farm in Tyldesley.

Investigating officers have now managed to confirm all those items, some worth tens of thousands of pounds each, were taken by criminals.

Offenders brought their ill-gotten gains to the borough to hide them from as far away as Leeds, Derby, North Wales and Lancashire.

The hunt is now on for those responsible for amassing the huge haul of vehicles and other large items taken from their rightful owners.

Sgt Paul Lenarcic of GMP’s Safer Roads Together team said: “We are looking at £200,000 of equipment we have recovered here. It’s not often we find so many pieces in one place.

“With some of this equipment it’s not as easy to identify as a stolen car and sometimes takes us a bit longer but we can confirm this property has been stolen.

“Plant is very valuable for businesses and industry and we quite often find stolen equipment in different parts of Greater Manchester or travelling through the city region.”

Police enquiries into stolen industrial equipment led officers to the Tyldesley location where the stolen haul, which also includes a quad bike, was found.

The vehicles and other objects were located in outbuildings and around the main compound at the site.

Investigations are still continuing to work out if other items found at the farm are also there as a result of criminal activity.

Enquiries into the stolen plant are ongoing and any witnesses who saw the vehicles in the pictures around the Tyldesley area is asked to call police on 101 or get in touch with Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.