Five arrested in Penwortham on suspicion of burglary

Officers were called to reports of "suspicious circumstances" at around 10.30pm on September 12 after the occupant of a property in Burscough spotted people behaving strangely at the rear of his house.

The people are then reported to have made off from the scene.

Officers say the occupier then followed a van they were driving for a short while and managed to get the registration of the van which was passed to the police.

A spokesman for the police said: "The owner of a property contacted us after he noticed some people behaving suspiciously at the rear of his property.

"They left and the occupier followed them in his car. We advised him not to follow on safety grounds. He then took their registration details and passed them to us.

"The van was later spotted in Penwortham and officers arrested five suspects on Liverpool Road close to the police headquarters."

The men were taken into custody overnight.