Man arrested over burglaries and thefts in Shropshire village

Police were called by a householder after a Ford Transit panel van was stolen Aston Munslow, between Ludlow and Shrewsbury, in the early hours of Tuesday.

Officers were deployed to the area and following a search of the roads nearby, the stolen van was found abandoned with a chain saw, hedgecutter and petrol strimmer in the back.

Police said a man located nearby could not give a reasonable account for his whereabouts and he was arrested.

Checks with the owner of the van revealed that the items in the back were not his. Investigations are underway to try to identify the owners of the items recovered.

In probably related activity, five chainsaws were stolen from the rear compartment of a blue Ford ranger pick up after the locks were forced.

This happened between Monday and Tuesday and has been linked to the theft of the van.

A shed at another property in Aston Munslow was also broken into and a chainsaw was found abandoned on a car park of a pub in the village.

Scenes of crime officers and other police resources are continuing to investigate this series of crimes.

It is thought that at least two offenders and one other vehicle were involved in these crimes, the details of this probable second vehicle are not known at this time, but investigations continue.

Anyone in the area overnight between May 20-21 who saw anything suspicious is asked to call 101 and refer to incident 0049S 210519.

Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org