POLICE are urging owners of quad bikes to get them fitted with trackers after thieves were foiled in their attempt to get away with one from near Skipton.

After the £9,000 quad was taken from a garage in a rural location to the east of Skipton in the early hours of yesterday (Tuesday), officers were quickly on the scene because the owner had been alerted by its tracker and had called 999.

A metal door of the garage had been cut and security lighting damaged.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said: "Within 20 minutes (of the 999 call at just after 3am) the quad bike was spotted by police officers south of Skipton.

"It was being towed by another car, and as the officers closed in, two men sitting on the bike and wearing balaclavas began throwing debris at their police car.

"As more police units approached from the other direction, the towing car suddenly stopped, and the men on the bike ran off in different directions. Officers caught a third man trying to leave the car, and he was arrested on suspicion of burglary."

"The quad bike and a power tool found in the car, also believed to have been stolen, will be returned to their rightful owners following forensic enquiries."

North Yorkshire Police is urging all quad bike owners to consider fitting trackers, and to check other security measures, to give officers the best chance of recovering stolen property and bringing offenders to justice.

Police say a man in his 40s from Bradford was arrested and taken into custody and an investigation is ongoing to find the remaining suspects.