THIEVES who overloaded their van with slabs of stolen stone, causing it to get stuck in the mud, have received a well-deserved dose of Karma according to local residents.

In an incident which occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning, thieves drove in to Griffin Park, Blackburn in a bid to steal valuable slabs of York stone from a wall.

Upon loading their van full of the preserved stone, they realised they were unable to move thanks to the weight of the stone causing the van to sink into the mud.

Residents alerted police to what was going on just before 6am after noise in the park disturbed them.

Faye Thorton, who was walking her dogs in the early hours on Wednesday morning described the scene as being like 'something from a Benny Hill sketch.'

She said: "It was hard not to have a bit of a laugh when I realised what had happened.

"You can see where they've tried to use the stones to free themselves from the mud.

"There are so many cases in the area of the preserved stone being stolen and of course it's always frustrating to see someone has tried to do it again, but the van becoming stuck in the mud like that can only be described as Karma."

Councillor Jim Smith, executive member for the Environment portfolio said: "These people will not get away with this.

"I firmly believe that with the van we have enough evidence to catch those responsible for this terrible behaviour.

"I would like to thank the people living in the area for being so vigilant and helping the council and police with this matter."

A council spokesman said: “This type of damage is unacceptable. Not only does it ruin the environment but council taxpayers’ money has to be spent on repairs.

“Anyone with information about this incident should contact the police.”

A Spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: "We received reports of thieves in the area and when officers arrived a van had been abandoned.

"There we stacks of stones around the van and it looked as though the weight of stones inside had caused it to get stuck in the mud.

"The council have recovered all of the stone and no arrests have been made."

This incident comes a week after similar style theft in Corporation Park, Blackburn, where thieves broke in to the part in the middle of the night and stole York Stone from the memorial garden.

Any body with any information should call police on 101 quoting log number 165 of April 25.