Three men who attempted to purchase goods from Graham builders merchants using a fraudulent account got more than they bargained for this morning.

After being tipped off by Jewsons in Croxley Green that the men were on their way, Graham staff set about hatching a plan.

The men arrived in the yard in Caxton Way, Watford, and two of them walked into the shop to buy goods while a third stayed in the van.

As staff knew that police backup was on the way, assistant manager Jim Miller stalled the men in the store while a colleague drove a lorry across the exit to Caxton Way to block the van's escape.

When the police arrived, the two men in the store tried to escape on foot.

The driver of the van remained in the vehicle where he was swiftly caught.

One escapee was immediately arrested while the other managed to give the police and Graham staff the slip. A police helicopter was scrambled to search the area of the business park and the Holywell estate, while several police cars blocked possible escape routes.

Two men were arrested, one on suspicion of theft and the other for attempted theft. Both are aged 34 and from Abbots Langley. Mr Miller said: "I was serving them and stalling them. I was pretending to be new and not knowing what I was doing.

"That and the lorry, it was something we did on the spot. It broke up the day anyway."