Angells Fisheries stolen van returned after being intercepted on the M1 by Northamptonshire Police

The owners of a popular fish and chip shop has thanked the community after its stolen van was recovered.

"We would like to thank everyone who shared our post," said the owners of Angells Fisheries.

"We would also like to thank local businesses for sharing CCTV footage."

The van was stolen last month from Vernon Street on a Friday afternoon, October 20, around 4.30pm.

CCTV footage showed two men involved in the theft and one of them had been hiding in a nearby alleyway shortly before the van was taken.

"Our van was taken easily in less than 5 minutes with busy passing members of the public," said a spokesman from Angells Fisheries.

"We would encourage other drivers in the area to be extra vigilant and take extra security measures as we will be doing in the future."

They added that the driver was caught by Northamptonshire police on the M1 travelling southbound with the van driving on cloned plates.

"Unfortunately equipment for the business has been removed and there’s a lot of damage to the van," added the Angells Fisheries spokesman.

"It looks like they’ve tried to remove the body.

"We are currently looking at options of what to do next.

“We would like to thank Fenton Autos for their help with the recovery process.”