A shopkeeper gave chase when a thief stole £30 worth of coffee from a New Earswick store.

The thief cleared the shelf at the Happy Shopper in the village before riding off on his bicycle yesterday.

Shop owner Geoff Howard jumped in his van and pursued the man along Huntington Road, getting out twice to try to stop him.

But the thief got away in the snickets of the Bell Farm estate.

He is described as being white, in his mid-20s, with short dark hair.

He was wearing a dark bomber jacket and dark jeans and was riding a bicycle with a distinctive short rear mudguard with a mud flap.

Updated: 08:37 Friday, May 04, 2001