A well known scrap merchant from Lancashire has been charged over the handling of stolen vehicles.

The 34-year-old appeared at the Blackburn Magistrates Court last month and was charged with the theft of a Volvo tipper truck worth £45,000 and the handling of an old Mercedes 190E worth around £400.

The Volvo HGV was one of three cars stolen from OJ Jones Haulage in Porthmadog, Wales.

The Mercedes is believed to have been taken from a compound in Derbyshire at the end of November 2011.

The scrap merchant turned crook also faces further charges over a £15,000 Scania wagon which was taken from a dairy farm in Huddersfield and fitted with false number plates.

Smith of Meadow Street, Great Harwood, was given bail by the magistrates until February with the conditions not to travel abroad and to stick to a 10 - 6pm curfew.

Smith was also intructed to report to Great Harwood Police Station 4 times a week.

His 35-year-old wife who was arrested at the same time and is currently on bail, pending further inquiries.