Police said the owner of the van gave a description of the car and occupants seen leaving the scene.

Twenty-five minutes later, officers were able to track down the vehicle.

Inside it was a “significant” number of tools, which are believed to have been stolen, a police spokesman said.

PO Greening added: “We are determined to respond strongly to any such reports and have recently put in place additional resources to enable us to respond quickly to any reports.”

He asked anyone who may have been in the area at the time of the reported incident, or who may have alarm or dash cam footage, to contact 101.