PICTURES of stolen machinery have been issued by police in a bid to reunite them with their owners.

The goods, recently recovered by police, are mostly small plant machinery, including Stihl saws, chainsaws and generators.

Police have released images of the equipment which is believed to have been taken from businesses and building sites in the area.

Police said the items are 'significant' to the businesses they were taken from and have 'significant monetary value'.

Officers believe that some of the large quantity of machinery has been taken from Bolton.

It is also believed the equipment has been taken from Bury, Salford, Chorley and Blackburn.

Police Constable Paul Nickeas of GMP’s Bolton Borough, said: “I would urge any company or person that has recently been a victim of burglary in the Bolton area and had machinery stolen to get in touch with us.

“Even if you didn’t report the crime to us at the time, we would like to hear from you.

“If you recognise any of the items in the pictures as belonging to you, or someone you know, then please contact us.

“The items are valuable to businesses in the area and are also of significant monetary value.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0161 856 5761 and quote incident number 0739 of 06/03/17.

People can alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111.