Wigan Baby in Stolen Car Drama

24 January 2013, 15:21 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A seven week old baby is safe and well after he was taken from his parents when the family car was stolen in Wigan.

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

The 24 year old owner of the car was standing near the vehicle talking to a friend when they suddenly realised a man had sneaked into the driver's seat.

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 found him in the car close to the Billinge Arms pub on Maine Street in Billinge.

You can watch CCTV footage of the Suburu Impreza being abandoned below:

Detective Constable Brendan Greally, from Wigan CID, said: “We can only imagine the distress that the parents of this young baby must have gone through after their son was taken from them in this manner. Thankfully, their nightmare was only short-lived after the baby was found safe and well inside the vehicle around 15 minutes later.

The thief was a white man in his 20s, wearing a dark coloured bob hat, a dark hooded top and lighter coloured trousers or tracksuit bottoms.