Police appeal for witnesses and information following park robbery in Ellesmere Port

At around 5.20pm on Wednesday 5 March, a 16-year-old boy was riding bike with a friend at the Valley Pump bike track in Ellesmere Port.

The boy was then approached by an unknown man in a balaclava who asked him if his bike was for sale and offered him £500 in cash. The boy declined, and the man entered his phone number into his phone in case he changed his mind and wanted to sell it. 

Later, the boy was reproached by the same man, who had been seen with three other men dressed similarly in balaclavas, and asked if he could test ride the bike.

Again, the boy declined, to which the man pushed him and grabbed his coat, threatening him to get off the bike. Not wishing to escalate the incident further, the boy did so and the man rode away on the bike followed by the three others who were also on bikes.

However, the boy had attached an AirTag device to the bike, which subsequently allowed officers to track it to an address in the King Street area of the town. Upon attending the address officers found three men, two of whom were 18 and one 22, along with the stolen bike.

Further to this, upon looking at the phone of one of the men, officers confirmed that his phone number was the same as the one that had been given to the victim earlier that day.

All three were subsequently arrested on suspicion of robbery and have since been released on conditional bail.

Officers are now looking to identify the fourth man who was seen at the bike track at the time of the incident so they can fully establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and are appealing to anyone who may have any information, CCTV footage or witnessed the incident to come forward.

Detective Sergeant Timothy Cope, of CID Reactive West, said:

“I understand the concern this is likely to cause, especially amongst parents, and I would like to reassure residents that we are doing all we can to find the outstanding individual who was involved in this incident.

“We would like to ask the public, especially those who frequent the Valley Pump bike track and may have seen the incident occur, to please get in touch with any information they might have.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Cheshire police on 101, or at www.cheshire.police.uk/tell-us , quoting IML-2041046.

Information can also be reported anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or at http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/ .