Driver bundled into van in lay-by

A lorry driver was bundled into a van before a trailer containing a copper load worth about £300,000 was hijacked on the A40 in Herefordshire.

The man, who had stopped in a lay-by near a vehicle inspection site at Ross-on-Wye was put in a van by two men.

He was taken to a remote spot and left at the side of the road.

The lorry cab unit was later found still in the lay-by but the trailer containing copper wire on drums for the automotive industry had been taken.

'Many motorists'

Police said the load was made up of 23 pallets, each containing five drums.

The lorry driver, who was found by police later in the evening, was unharmed.

The vehicle had been taking a load to south Wales before the driver stopped in the lay-by on Friday which is used by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA).

Det Ch Insp Sean Paley, from Hereford CID, said: "We are appealing for witnesses from the many motorists who would have been passing the VOSA site at that time of day.

"Perhaps they may have seen the lorry driver talking with the two males in the VOSA lay-by or the trailer later being unhitched from the white cab and being re-hitched to another, before being driven away."