POLICE are hunting a cheeky thief who snatched a delivery van - while the driver was still inside.
The white van man was removing a tyre from the rear compartment of the vehicle when he felt it begin to move.
The incident happpened on Eastgate, Lund, at around 2.30pm on Thursday December 6.
A police spokeswoman said: “A driver was delivering to numerous address in Lund village.
“He parked his van, switched his engine off, and left the key in ignition.
“He then got out of the van and went to the back van door. He climbed into van and picked up a tyre which he was his next delivery.
“While he had the tyre in his hand, he felt the van move and heared the engine start up.
”He slipped out of the back of the van, and ran to front of his van.
“There was a man sitting in the driver’s seat. He had locked the doors. The male managed to get some traction on the icy road and sped off.
The spokeswoman added: “The delivery driver also saw a grey Cherokee Jeep making off at speed. He had seen this vehicle earlier in the village and believes it is connected to the theft of his van.”
The vehicle stolen ws a white ford transit registration YT12ZKZ.
Police are urging anyone who saw either of these vehicles in Lund or witnessed the incident, to contact them by calling 101 and quoting crime reference 1945965.
Officers are also investigating the theft of Trailer from Thorpe Road, Lockington.
A flat bed trailer was left on the owner’s driveway, outside his house.
The trailer contained a load of logs, along with a chain saw, a leaf blower and tool box.
A police spokeswoman said: “Overnight on Thursday December 6, someone approached and stole the trailer which was hooked up to his vehicle. Anyone with information about this theft please contact the police and quote crime reference 1946033.
A quantity of scrap metal was stolen from Main Street, Beswick, between 6.30pm on ThursdayDecember 6 and 8pm on Friday December 7.
A police spokeswoman said: “The resident of a property on Main Street, Beswick, left some scrap copper in his rear garden, bagged up ready to take to the scrap merchants.
“While he was away from the property, it had been approached by unidentified people who ripped five boarding panels from a fence and entered the garden via the gap.
“They walked through the garden and stole most of the scrap copper and three cylinders.
“It is believed the people responsible made off in a van due to the amount of copper taken.”
Anytone who saw or heard anything suspicious around these times please contact the police and quote crime reference 1946155.