Help catch thieves who stole Â£20,000 van

CCTV footage from a petrol station of suspected Easirent van thieves

These CCTV pictures show two men filling up a white VW Crafter tipper truck at a petrol station in Hindley Green at around 7.55pm on Friday July 1.

The vehicle was taken earlier that evening from a site off Platt Lane in Hindley where it had been parked by someone who was leasing it from the Wigan branch of national company Easirent.

CCTV footage seen by the Wigan Evening Post shows the van driving onto the forecourt and a man wearing a white top and shorts filling up and arranging some objects in the back while a young man in a white Adidas T-shirt and blue jacket goes to pay.

The firm was able to get on the trail of its stolen van as the vehicle was equipped with a tracker.

After filling up the driver headed towards Westhoughton where he realised the device was recording his movements and ripped it off at around 8.15pm.

The company is now desperately asking anyone who recognises either the two men from the petrol station or the vehicle, which has the registration plate RV65 EEA, to urgently get in touch with police.

Nick Hanley from Easirent in Wigan said: “Time is the essence as the vehicle could be on its way to Ireland or Europe. They stopped at the Burma garage in Hindley Green and it’s a very good picture.

“We’re a national company but it’s worth a fair sum of money and we are just trying to get it back now.”

It is not the first time the company has been targeted as last November thieves made off with a huge haul of 16 cars and vans worth £300,000 from Easirent’s Queen Street premises.

However, 13 of the vehicles were later found across Wigan, Leigh and St Helens.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed unknown offenders gained entry to the industrial estate off Platt Lane some time after 5pm on Friday July 1.

They appeared to make a search of the property before driving off in the van. Enquiries are ongoing.

Anyone with information about this incident should ring police on the non-emergency number 101 or call independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.