Arrests made after stolen £50k digger intercepted by police on the M25 near Potters Bar

At around 5.45pm on Thursday, July 15, police received an alert that the large digger, which had been stolen from the Dunstable area of Bedfordshire, was in transit on the M25.

Specially trained officers from the Mobile Support Team and the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Road Policing Unit were deployed to the area, where they discovered the stolen vehicle on the back of a truck, with a black Kia Sedona travelling in convoy.

Officers utilised specialist tactics in order to bring both of the vehicles to a safe stop between Junction 23 (South Mimms) and Junction 24 (Potters Bar) of the M25 in Hertfordshire.

As a result, traffic on the motorway was brought to a standstill. The road was fully reopened by 7.20pm.

Six people were arrested at the scene on suspicion of theft. They were all in police custody today.

Officers later conducted a Section 18 search at an address in Wharf Road, Wormley, Broxbourne, in connection with the incident, where several more suspected stolen vehicles were recovered.

Inspector Victoria Richards, of the Tactical Resources Team, said: “All vehicles involved have since been recovered.

"I would like to thank all motorists who were held up on the M25 last night as a result of this operation for their patience.

“The temporary road closure allowed us to recover the stolen vehicle and make arrests within an hour of the initial report coming in.”

The M25 stolen digger episode is not being treated as linked to the incident in Cheshunt yesterday (Thursday) when a stolen Land Rover Discovery was driven onto the railway line following a police chase.

The driver rammed officers from Essex Police and drove onto the train tracks, stopping Greater Anglia and Stansted Express trains between London and Hertford, Bishop's Stortford, Stansted Airport and Cambridge.

The stolen vehicle was found abandoned on the train tracks in Windmill Lane, Cheshunt.