More than 70,000 pints worth of Guinness has been stolen by thieves who took two HGV trailers from a depot, police have said.
The trailers were carrying around 800 barrels of the stout - worth an estimated £115,000 - before they were driven away from an industrial estate in Runcorn on Monday, a Cheshire Constabulary spokesman said.
Witness appeal launched
Officers are now appealing for witnesses who may have seen a lorry entering the Aston Lane area at about 7.45pm, to contact them.
The vehicle is said to have connected to an HGV trailer containing the Guinness before leaving the site at around 7.55pm and driving towards the Mersey Gateway bridge.
A second lorry arrived at 9.12pm and connected to another trailer, which also contained barrels of Guinness. That lorry left at 9.30pm and headed in the direction of Rainhill and Watkinson Way.
Suspect descriptions and stolen vehicles
The stolen HGVs are believed to have been driven away by men, police said. The first driver is described as white with a short dark beard and he was wearing a beanie hat, while the second is believed to have been wearing a cap.
Detectives say the barrels, containing around 70,400 pints of the Irish tipple, had been intended to be delivered to pubs.
Diageo, which owns Guinness, has a packaging warehouse on the Whitehouse Industrial Estate on Aston Lane. It is estimated the total value of the items stolen - the Guinness and the trailers themselves - is around £205,000.
How to help
The missing trailers are described as white tri-axle curtain side trailers with branding for logistics company GXO on their curtains and rear doors.
The trucks have the unique ID numbers DL736 and DL542 on the top left corner of their rear doors.
Cheshire Constabulary has appealed for anyone with information, or any drivers who may have dashcam footage, to contact them on the website, or by calling 101 and using incident reference number IML-2408641.
