A police helicopter and sniffer dogs were called out to track down crooks who caused thousands of pounds of damage to display vehicles at two Burton car dealerships.

Pentagon Vauxhall and Inchcape Toyota, in Burton, have been targeted by thieves in break-ins that involved a hunt for the culprits by a police helicopter and sniffer dogs.

Police were called first on Friday night to the Inchape site after the intruders were seen acting suspiciously on CCTV.

Six catalytic converters worth £6,000 were stolen from Peugeot vans on the forecourt.

A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said: “Officers responded promptly and detained one man nearby. There was another offender who got away.

“We sent our helicopter out to try to locate him, as well as the sniffer dogs, which led us down to the railway line.”

A 19-year-old man from Derby was arrested for theft from a motor vehicle.

Nick Locker, general manager at the Vauxhall site, said he felt "very frustrated" by what had happened, especially as the business had been targeted two weeks earlier, with a set of alloy wheels stolen and windows smashed on some vehicles — causing another £2,000 of damage," he told the Burton Mail.

“Both of these incidents have caused a lot of hassle and we are around £8,000 down, for something they will hardly get any money for when they try to sell the goods on.”

At 9.15am the same day police officers were called to Inchcape Toyota after workers reported at least six catalytic converters, also worth in excess of £6,000, stolen from the display cars.