A WOULD-BE thief who was spotted trying to steal clothes from a disabled children’s charity was caught when he got stuck in a recycling bin.
He climbed inside a large yellow clothes recycling bank in the Radcliffe Metrolink car park, off Spring Lane, at about 2am on Tuesday.
The man was caught redhanded when CCTV operators spotted him climbing in, but police could not get him out of the bin.
The large metal container is accessible only by a narrow chute with a hinged antiintruder mechanism.
Police called the fire service, who came armed with highpowered cutting saws normally used to extract crash victims from wrecked cars.
The man claimed to be stuck inside, but managed to find a way out within a minute of the fire service arriving.
Watch manager Paul Marston, from Whitefield fire station, said: “We told him not to panic, then next thing the chute banged open and a head appeared.”
The bin is used by a charity called Whizz Kidz, which collects unwanted clothes, shoes and textiles to raise money for disabled children across the North West.
Three men, aged 22, 26 and 27 were arrested on suspicion of theft and released with a police caution.
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