A NATIONWIDE investigation has been launched into a spate of lorry thefts, including the hijacking of two Nestl trucks.

Detective Sergeant Dave Pegg, of North Yorkshire Police, is working with colleagues in Humberside, Derbyshire, Thames Valley, Cheshire and Merseyside as part of his investigation into the kidnapping of a York lorry driver and the theft of his Nestl Kit Kat lorry near Selby last month.

He has made a public appeal to the people of Liverpool, where the truck was found, for any information into the incident itself or the whereabouts of the missing load.

The appeal came as Humberside police put out an appeal on Crimewatch UK last night for information on the hijacking of a Nestl food truck from the company's depot in Scunthorpe in April.

Today, Humberside Police said they had received "dozens of calls", many of which provided names.

Detective Sergeant Pegg said that four men from the Kirkby area of Liverpool had been arrested and released on bail in connection with the Selby Kit Kat lorry heist.

He said: "We are basically appealing for any information that would lead to the arrest of what we believe is at least two others that were involved in our offence, and the whereabouts of the outstanding load.

"The Kit Kat trailer turned up minus its load near Kirby.

"As a result of our inquiries we are liaising with colleagues from a number of forces across the country about a number of other incidents. They are not all hijacks and robberies."

A spokeswoman for Nestl said it could not comment on the incidents as they were now a police matter.

Updated: 11:13 Friday, July 25, 2003