Driver abducted in whisky robbery

Police are appealing for witnesses to the robbery

Police have been hunting thieves who abducted a lorry driver before hijacking his trailer containing £200,000 worth of whisky and gin.

The 49-year-old driver was flagged down on Monday afternoon as he headed for the M74 from the Cairn Lodge service station, in Douglas.

He was threatened with what was thought to have been a firearm before being taken to a van and driven off.

He was returned to his lorry but the trailer containing the whisky had gone.

The stolen spirits were believed to consist of 35cl and 70cl bottles of whisky and a quantity of one-litre bottles of gin. All bottles had the Tesco brand label.

This was a particularly high value robbery Det Sgt Fiona Brown Strathclyde Police

The Scania trailer was yellow with the words Curries European written on the side and had a serial number of 927. The vehicle registration was N13 DST.

The lorry driver was not injured although he was badly shaken by his ordeal.

Strathclyde Police have appealed for witnesses.

Detective Sergeant Fiona Brown, of Lanark police office, said: "This was a particularly high value robbery.

Similar incident

"I would appeal to anyone who may have been in the area of Cairn Lodge Services around the time of the incident, or may have seen any suspicious persons or vehicles in the local area, or may have seen the described trailer."

Det Sgt Brown also appealed to anyone who has been offered the whisky or hears about it being sold to contact Lanark police office.

A similar robbery took place in Glasgow in May. The lorry driver on that occasion was also abducted and driven around in a van.

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said the cases were not being linked "at the moment" but added that officers were keeping an open mind.