A HAVE-A-GO milkman with plenty of bottle chased a car load of thieves he spotted stealing the cartons he had just delivered to a nursery school.
And Craig Price reckons that only the full load on his flatbed diesel truck stopped him catching them.
Craig, 42, who is the third generation of his family to work in the milk business in Marchwiel, had just delivered more than 40 cartons of milk to the Cherry Hill Children's Day Nursery in Borras Park at about 3.30am on Thursday when he saw the four men in a silver Vauxhall Corsa swoop to snatch them away.
He said: “The nursery is at the end of a long drive and just after I had driven back down it following my delivery I saw the car go up the drive and take the milk.
“I quickly turned around my truck and went back up the drive but as I got near them I heard the car’s tyres screeching and thought they were going to ram me.
“As I pulled over to one side they went up on to the flower beds and drove past me.
“I then turned around again, went after them and followed them the best I could. The lad who was with me helping out, Gareth Wynn, phoned the police from his mobile while I tried to keep up with them.
“Unfortunately, they got to Gwenfro at Caia Park and disappeared.
“If I hadn’t had a full load of about 1,000 pints I believe I would have caught them.”
He added: “Soon afterwards somebody told me they had seen some of my Creamline milk on the floor in Connor Crescent, which means they must have thrown some cartons out of the window of their car.
“It’s just crazy – I can’t believe someone would go to so much trouble just to steal milk.”
But youngsters at the nursery didn’t have to go without as the supplier, Cool Milk, replenished their stocks at no extra charge.
Day nursery manager Lisa Holland said: “I’m really gob-smacked this could happen.
“I came in last Thursday morning and discovered we had no milk.
“I got on to the place that supplies it and they told me what had happened.
“Craig the delivery man then phoned me to tell me how he had chased after the thieves, so fair play to him for doing that.
“We did get another load of milk delivered later that day so the 60 children we look after here didn’t have to go without their drinks.”