Man abducted and left stranded

A 35-year-old man was abducted and left stranded in Derbyshire when the lorry he was driving was stolen in Middleton on Friday, 26 January.

Police are appealing for witnesses to this incident, which happened at about 11.15pm when the man had just left Stakehill Industrial Estate with the white Volvo lorry, registration PN04 BNZ, full of electrical goods.

He drove out of the industrial estate and onto the A627 (M) towards the M60. However, as he was driving along the road a white panel van similar to a Ford Escort pulled in front of the lorry, forcing the driver to stop.

Four masked men got out of the van, and into the cab of the lorry. They were all armed with hammers and threatened the driver, telling him that he had to follow the van.

With the four men still in the cab with the driver, the white van then led the lorry down onto Broadway. Both vehicles drove the whole length of this road to the junction with Oldham Road, where they turned right towards Manchester city centre.

After a short time, the van turned left off Oldham Road onto a street thought to be Grimshaw Lane, and the lorry followed.

At a quiet spot, the offenders forced the driver out of his cab and into the back of the white van, where he was guarded by one of the masked men.

The van was then driven for around 30 minutes at speed until the offenders had left the GMP area. After this time they opened the doors and let the man out, leaving him on Wood Head, a deserted road on the way to Glossop, near to Snake Pass.

The 35-year-old managed to flag down another lorry driver. After he had been picked up he called local police, who alerted GMP to the offence. GMP received this call just after 12.50am on Saturday 27 January 2007.

A short time later, GMP received a call from Lancashire police to say that the cab of a Volvo lorry had been found ablaze on the moors above Blackburn. The trailer containing the equipment had been removed.

One of the offenders is described as white, around 5ft 8in tall and about 22-years-old. He had a Mancunian accent and at the time of the offence was wearing a dark hooded top with a large Nike logo across the front and dark coloured trainers. All the men were wearing balaclavas.

Detective Constable Damien McLaughlin from Rochdale CID said: "Although he wasn't actually injured, the driver of this lorry was really traumatised by this incident. He thought the men were going to kill him, and had no idea where they were taking him.

"We would particularly like to appeal to anybody who may have seen this convoy with the lorry marked PNO4 BNZ driving along Broadway and Oldham Road late on Friday night to come forward. They may have important information that can help us find these offenders."

Anyone with any information about this incident is asked to contact police on 0161 856 4644 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.