A £95,000 Aston Martin sports car was stolen from the forecourt of a Bolton petrol station - after the driver left the keys in the ignition and the engine running.

The owner, a 36-year-old company director, had pulled up to use the forecourt cash machine.

He watched in despair as his pride and joy - one of the family of cars that has starred in James Bond movies - was driven off.

But police managed to cut short the thief's hour-long joyride in the grey Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

The car has a tracking device and police were able plot its course and lay a trap for it as it sped through Horwich.

They laid a "stinger" across the road to puncture the tyres.

The two-seater coupe was finally abandoned in Church Lane, Westhoughton, when the flat tyres made the vehicle impossible to drive.

Officers pursuing the car arrested a 37-year-old man.

Police believe that two friends, whom the thief is believed to have picked up after taking the car, had already fled at some point during the journey.

The arrest brought to an end a 12-mile pursuit which followed the theft of the car from the forecourt of the Tesco Express petrol station in Deane Road, Deane, at 5.55pm on Thursday.

A description of the car was circulated to all officers in Bolton and they used tracking software to keep tabs on the car, which was driven towards Westhoughton and then along the A6 to Horwich. Patrols followed the car and the trap was laid in Mansell Way, close the Beehive Roundabout, in Horwich.

The "stinger" device - packaged in a concertina form, with a tough frame of nylon strips holding pointed steel tubes - was spread across the road to deflate the car's tyres.

An attached rope makes it easy to regather after use before pursuing police vehicles also run over it.

The thief drove over it and then continued to drive the car through Lostock, then back towards Westhoughton where the car was abandoned at 6.50pm.

The car's owner, a company director from Westhoughton, was later reunited with his Aston Martin.

Sgt Ian Coop, of Bolton Police, said: "This should serve as a warning to anybody who thinks they will save time by leaving their engine running while they pop to a cash point or into a shop.

"It only takes a second to steal a car when the keys are left in the ignition. We would always advise that anybody who leaves their car unattended, even for a short time, turns the engine off and locks the vehicle."

l A 37-year-old man from Deane, arrested on suspicion of taking a vehicle without the owner's consent, was bailed until March pending further inquiries.

A STAR CAR

  • The Aston Martin is the favourite car of superspy 007 James Bond.
  • The first Bond, Sean Connery, was introduced to his silver birch Aston Marton DB5 in Goldfinger back in 1964.
  • The car went on to star in Thunderball, The Living Daylights and Goldeneye.
  • In 2002, the Aston Martin was back. This time Pierce Brosnan, as Bond in Die Another Day, drove a V12 Vanquish with a pair of machine guns, heat-seeking missiles and shotguns that operated from the radiator grille.
  • The Aston Martin - a DBS - was brought back for Casino Royale.