Ten people were arrested and around £53k worth of gin recovered in a busy Saturday night for North Yorkshire police.

Various teams across the force including specialist operations were involved in two separate incidents near York.

At 12.40am a member of the public reported a group of men breaking through gates at business premises near Barton-le-Willows. A police spokesperson said: "Our roads policing officers immediately deployed to the A64 and sighted a HGV travelling westbound in close proximity with a car. The team’s sergeant worked quickly with our Force Control Room to strategically plot up various resources which included a dog unit.

"We attempted to stop both vehicles near Askham Bryan. The car was stopped by two units and the four occupants inside were detained. A further unit attempted to stop the HGV, but the two occupants alighted from the cab whilst it was moving, before running across a live lane and then into fields. Unfortunately for them, hot on their heels was our police dog Rhun who worked with his handler for over an hour to track scent and follow footprints across various muddy fields and woodland for approximately 7km. Rhun, who doesn’t give up easily, rumbled again as he found two men hiding in a haystack. The men matched the description of the runners from the HGV."

"The HGV came to a slow natural stop in the live lane and as traffic was light thankfully it didn’t cause any damage. Inside, was over £50,000 of gin which is suspected stolen. A gin distillery in Barton-Le-Willows contacted us shortly afterwards to report a break in via the roof."

In total, six people from the West Yorkshire area, two aged in their 20s, three aged in their 30s and one in his 50s, were arrested on suspicion of burglary. They all currently remain in police custody.

The spokesperson added: "At just after 5am, our Force Control Room received a report of an off-road vehicle travelling with a car along the A64 near Bilborough Top services. Roads policing officers were immediately sent to the area and the police helicopter (NPAS) was scrambled. Ten minutes later, an officer attempted to stop a John Deere Gator on the A162 but it made off at speed. A pursuit commenced for a short time before the vehicle was abandoned in Sherburn.

2The car which is believed to have been travelling with the Gator was located and boxed in by roads policing officers near Micklefield. The four occupants inside, three men and one woman from the West Yorkshire area were arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle. They currently remain in police custody. We believe that the Gator is stolen from the Humberside area and enquiries are underway to ascertain further information. In Sherburn, a member of the public passed information to our officers who then quickly left in pursuit of the suspects. We are appealing for this person to make contact with us on 101 and quote reference number 12240214727.

"This is just a snapshot of activity from one team’s work last night. Across the county we had various departments which include response, neighbourhood policing and firearms who were all busy dealing with violent incidents, public order, missing people and safeguarding vulnerable people. Our work never stops, and tonight we will be back out in force to flush out criminality and apprehend those who think it is ok to cause harm to others."