AN Egremont man was left tied up inside his own van after an alleged kidnap, say police.

Cumbria Police has now issued an appeal for witnesses about the terrifying incident, which happened on Monday, November 2, when a 41-year-old man from Egremont was bundled into the back of his own van after being flagged down by a male wearing a head torch, whilst travelling on Grove Road, Egremont, towards St Bees at approximately 6.45am.

The offender is described as being around 5 ft 7 ins tall, of slim athletic build, with dark cropped hair which was tidy. He was described as wearing a dark fleecy jumper which zipped from the chest up to his face, and jeans.

The victim was tied up and was transported in his own van from Grove Road to Mockerkin on an unknown route, arriving at Mockerkin after approximately an hour.

It is believed that another vehicle and possibly two other suspects might have been involved in loading the contents of the victim’s van into another vehicle, at Mockerkin.

The offenders then left the van parked near to Mockerkin, with the victim in the back, and left the scene. At about 3pm the victim managed to turn the hazard warning lights of the van on. This may be recalled by someone who noted the vehicle being there.

He managed to free himself at approximately 8.45pm and got out of the van. He suffered minor injuries but was not threatened during the incident, but was left shocked and distressed.

Police are appealing for information about the movements of the van - a white Citroen Relay High-Top van - on Monday.

Detective Sergeant James Mason of West Cumbria CID, said: “Thankfully the victim was not badly injured in this incident but is understandably distressed following this ordeal.

“We would like the public’s help in finding out who was responsible for this incident. At this time we have officers conducting enquiries in our attempts to trace those responsible. I would also like to reassure the public that these type of incidents are extremely rare and we are doing everything we can to ascertain what has happened.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call Cumbria Police on 101 and ask to speak to an officer from North Cumbria CID or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.