TWO men have been arrested on suspicion of burglary following a high-speed chase that followed a ramraid at a Darlington store.

At midnight on Tuesday, police were alerted to the raid at the Screwfix store off Yarm Road and found an abandoned Ford Focus that had been crashed into the front of the premises.

A quantity of tools had been stolen from the store.

Cleveland and Durham Police’s communications centre carried out checks and discovered that the abandoned car had entered Darlington from Cleveland, in convoy with a second Ford Focus.

This was thought to be the getaway car and so details of that vehicle were circulated around the force.

"It was then spotted by the road policing unit in Geneva Road in Darlington and then followed onto the A66, where a high-speed pursuit started," said a spokesman for Durham Police. 

"After only a few minutes, officers managed to sting the vehicle between Darlington and Middlesbrough and it eventually came to a halt."

Police said in the boot there was property relating to the ram raid at Screwfix. The Ford Focus was believed stolen from a garage forecourt in Middlesbrough.

  • Two men from Middlesbrough aged 29 and 22 are being held in Darlington on suspicion of burglary.