SIX men were last night being questioned by police in connection with the alleged kidnap of a 30-year-old man.

The ordeal lasted 90 minutes, during which the victim escaped twice from the gang in Hartlepool before police arrested them.

The gang lured the man - understood to be Tony Steven Jemmett - to the town's Owton Lodge pub on the pretext of a job offer.

There, they accused him of committing a crime before trying to bundle him into a Vauxhall Vectra car.

But the victim, known as Tosh, denied any wrongdoing and broke free, running off towards the nearby Rossmere housing estate.

The gang caught up with him in Beath Grove and again drove off with him in the car.

They then made their way to Flannigan's bar, in Church Street, where again Mr Jemmett, who was recently said to be living in Sydenham Road, Hartlepool, tried to flee.

The victim is believed to have suffered minor injuries.

A passer-by, who saw him being chased along Church Street and again bundled into a car, alerted police, giving them the registration number.

Six men were arrested after Tuesday afternoon's incident. Three were taken to Stockton police station and three to Hartlepool police station.

A police source said last night: "If we hadn't received a call, we would have known nothing about this."

Officers carried out a 20-minute search for the Vauxhall Vectra and found the gang in a car park in Seaton Carew.

The car was impounded after officers made their arrests.

Detective Sergeant Matt Mason, of Hartlepool CID, said last night that the victim had assured interviewing officers that he had not committed a crime.

Cleveland Police said the victim was tricked to the Owton Lodge pub, believing he was being offered a job, at 2pm on Tuesday.

About eight officers in marked cars and vans spotted the Vectra parked next to the Northumbrian Water treatment plant in Seaton Carew.

The six arrested range in age from teenagers to men in their late 30s.

A task force of about 20 detectives worked until the early hours of yesterday on the case, and were last night awaiting a decision from the Crown Prosecution Service on whether to charge the group.

Det Sgt Mason added: "We are keen to speak to people who were near the Owton Lodge pub at around 2pm, in Church Street, just after 3pm and at the Seaton Carew car park at 3.30pm."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Hartlepool CID on (01642) 302126, or Crimestoppers on (0800) 555111.