A MECHANIC who ran a 'chop shop' breaking up luxury cars has been ordered to pay back £10,000 of the money he made handling stolen goods.

Derek Doherty, 49, of Tudor Avenue, Farnworth, pleaded guilty to three counts of handling stolen goods and was sentenced to two years in jail earlier this year after police officers discovered him operating from an industrial unit off Kirkebrok Road in Daubhill.

Officers had been looking for a stolen Range Rover and its tracking device revealed it had been in the area, but they could not find the vehicle until Doherty was spotted driving a van nearby and found in possession of several sets of keys.

When the unit was opened officers found a Mercedes van, which had been stolen from a delivery driver in a robbery and parts of a stolen Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport.

Altogether the three vehicles were estimated to be worth more than £40,000.

At a Proceeds of Crime Application (POCA) hearing at Bolton Crown Court , it was determined that Doherty had made £32,041.80 from his crimes and he was ordered by Recorder Jeremy Lasker to pay back £10,000 within three months or face six months imprisonment.