THERE was a happy ending for a mobility shop which had its van stolen.

Millercare Mobility's bright red van was stolen from outside their shop in Bury Road, Bolton yesterday afternoon.

The thieves then tried to sell the van for scrap at The Scrappers Ltd in Waterloo Street.

Sensing something was amiss, employees at The Scrappers Ltd lowered the exit barriers and rang Millercare to ask if a van had been stolen.

On hearing that it had the police were called.

An employee at The Scrappers Ltd said: "Two lads came in and I messaged a colleague to ring Millercare to see if the van had been stolen and put the barrier down and blocked the guys.

"They got twitchy and were after leaving. They were asking us to move cars to let them out.

"One of them rammed one of the cars and one of ours pulled him out of the van.

"The police arrested him."

Andy Howarth, branch manager at the Bolton Millercare store, said: "We're really pleased and we're going to bring them some chocolates.

"Thankfully they had the foresight to phone us up, otherwise we would have lost the van."

An eye witness said he had driven past the scrap yard and seen 'half a dozen' police cars in Waterloo Street and a man being arrested.

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police confirmed a 27-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and has been remanded in custody.