Thieves stole two HGV trailers containing more than 70,000 pints of Guinness from a Diageo packaging depot in Runcorn on Monday evening, in an operation targeting stout awaiting delivery to pubs. Cheshire Constabulary is investigating and hopes to recover the goods, appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage from anyone in the Aston Lane area at the time.

Around 800 barrels, worth an estimated £115,000, were taken, with the trailers themselves pushing the total loss to about £205,000. Police say a lorry connected to the first trailer left the Whitehouse Industrial Estate site at around 7.55pm heading towards the Mersey Gateway bridge, while a second lorry took another trailer at 9.30pm towards Rainhill and Watkinson Way. The stolen trailers are white tri-axle curtain-siders branded for logistics firm GXO, bearing ID numbers DL736 and DL542, and both drivers are described as men, one with a dark beard wearing a beanie and the other wearing a cap.