Road 'tail' leads to stolen boat

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/merseyside/7602779.stm

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A group of Merseyside Sea Cadets have been reunited with their stolen boat - after a quick-thinking leader spotted it being driven past him on the M62.

Kenny Griffiths was driving towards Liverpool on Saturday afternoon when he spotted the rigid inflatable boat, which had been stolen in April.

Mr Griffiths turned around, rang police and followed the trailer to a street in Salford 40 miles (64km) away.

Officers arrived moments later and arrested the driver.

The sea cadets unit, a charity based in Litherland, had given up hope of recovering the boat, which was stolen along with 18 kayaks, paddles and lifejackets in April.

Despite an appeal on BBC Radio Merseyside, no trace of the stolen items - valued at thousands of pounds - were found, until Saturday afternoon.

I had a grin so big you could have tied it at the top of my head Kenny Griffiths, Sea Cadets commander

Mr Griffiths, the unit's commanding officer, told the BBC he was "absolutely amazed" when he spotted the boat near the Rocket roundabout, Childwall.

He alerted police and began tailing the Land Rover down the M62, which eventually pulled over after leaving the motorway in Winton, Salford.

Five police cars turned up minutes later and a man was arrested.

Mr Griffiths was able to produce a key to a lock attached to the boat which proved ownership.

"It was quite an interesting day - I felt like I'd won the lottery," Mr Griffiths said.

"I just happened to be where I was - I'm not often in that area - so the chance of me actually seeing it was just unbelievable.

"I had a grin so big you could have tied it at the top of my head."

Theft probe

The boat has now been sent back to Sea Cadets headquarters to be inspected for damage.

"Until we can act get it back and get my boat engineer to have a look at it we don't know what sorts of problems it has has, but it should still be okay."

Mr Griffiths said his Sea Cadets, who have spent the last five months without a boat, were going to be "absolutely delighted".

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "A man was arrested on suspicion of theft and handling stolen goods.

"He was kept in custody by GMP before the inquiry was taken over by Merseyside Police."