Police stage reconstruction of truck hijack

Cheshire Police have staged a roadside reconstruction in a bid for witnesses to a knife-point lorry hijack by a five-man gang. In response to the attack on 7 August, in which a gang posed as Vosa enforcement officers and hijacked a trailer containing cereal, officers set up a vehicle reconstruction on 14 August.

A cab and trailer similar to the ones targeted by the gang were placed at junction 7 of the M53. A Vosa vehicle was also used to jog drivers' memories of a Ford Galaxy that was liveried up to imitate the enforcement body. Detective Sergeant Nigel Parr, who was at the roadside reconstruction, claims: "Information from the public is vital in cases such as this. We got quite a few interesting leads."

The police emphasise that although they have a number of witnesses, it is still essential to keep looking. A spokeswoman for Vosa adds, however, that replica Vosa vehicles are not a common occurrence. The 46-year-old Chorley driver, who works for Walton Summit group Montgomery Transport, was subjected to a terrifying attack.

The driver was pulled over by bogus officials on the M53 near Ellesmere Port and then forced to drive to Birkenhead Docks, where he had to exchange his trailer of cereal for one they had previously stolen with £1m of cigarettes. It is believed the offenders followed the HGV to Hapsford Services, where the stolen trailer was attached to their own tractor. The driver and his cab were discovered in Killingholme, Humberside.

A £50,000 reward is available for those offering vital information and they should contact Cheshire Police on 0845 458000.

Police are seeking:

• A cab unit used by the offenders, which was a Scania twin-steer, three-axle cab on Irish plates, approximately three to four years old. It is thought to be maroon or red.
• A red, triple-axle boxvan trailer, with 'Montgomery Transport' livery in silver or grey writing.

It is thought that four of the five offenders had Northern Irish accents.