Baby safe and well after car snatch ordeal

The thief struck at around 7.35pm on Tuesday, targeting a blue Subaru Impreza parked on Moor Road in Orrell, Wigan.

The 24-year-old owner of the car was standing near the vehicle talking to a friend when they became aware a man had sneaked into the driver’s seat, Greater Manchester Police said yesterday. The man then began to turn the vehicle around in the street.

The owner tried to open the passenger door, shouting that his baby son was in the back seat, but the thief drove off on to St James’ Road in the direction of Billinge.

Around 15 minutes later, Merseyside Police was informed of a baby being left in an abandoned car close to the Billinge Arms pub on Maine Street, Billinge. The thief was a white man in his 20s.