POLICE officers who were tricked into allowing thieves to get away with a £50,000 digger from a building site will not face disciplinary action.

Two police constables were called to the Hollin Hall Mill housing development, Trawden, to find two men loading an orange Hitachi excavator on to a wagon.

The digger was on hire to building company Page Construction.

When confronted by the police, the offenders produced paperwork and claimed they were from the hire company and were moving the machine because Page Construction had finished with it.

The officers then allowed the men to drive off with the excavator, but the men were, in fact, stealing the vehicle. Despite the blunder, police have confirmed the officers involved will not face any action over the incident.

Sergeant John Fryer said: "The men had documentation which said they were from the plant hire company and the contractors had finished with the digger and they were moving it to another site.

"There will be no action taken against the officers in this case.

"It was just an unfortunate incident and no formal complaint has been made."

The incident happened around 6.30am last Saturday after a farmer heard machinery revving.

Neither of the police officers was the village's usual community beat managers.

The digger has not been found.

Police have traced the wagon which belonged to a hire leasing company in Skelmersdale.

Sergeant Fryer said the vehicle's lease contract had not yet expired so it was not known whether it would be returned to the company.

He added: "The officers took details of the registration number and got good descriptions of the men.

"Investigations are still ongoing into the incident but no-one has been arrested yet."