A MAN has been arrested in fields off the A64 after farm machinery was stolen from a York village.

At 2.15pm police received reports that a telehandler - a forklift with a crane function - had been stolen from business premises in Askham Fields Lane, Askham Bryan.

Officers tracked it to the A64 near Tadcaster, where the suspect left it abandoned on the road and ran off into the fields.

Two police dogs and their handlers chased the suspect through fields and through a farm yard, finding the 26-year-old man hiding in bushes with a bike he had stolen from nearby.

The telehandler and bike have now been recovered by police and will be examined by crime scene investigators as part of the investigation.

Assistant Chief Constable Ken McIntosh said: “Thirty-five minutes from the report of a crime to the arrest of a suspect sends a very clear message to the criminal fraternity that we will not tolerate their presence in our communities.”

Members of the public are encouraged to report suspicious behaviour by calling North Yorkshire Police on 101.