Teens wearing balaclavas and brandishing a machete flee crime scene in a private hire vehicle

Staffordshire Police are appealing for a private hire driver to come forward after a number of offenders with a machete made off in a mini-cab after abandoning a stolen van in the street in Stoke-on-Trent.

Police were called to Lichfield Street at the junction of Clifford Street in Hanley, at around 7pm yesterday (Monday 4 April).

Witnesses reported seeing a group of Asian male youths, in their mid-teens, wearing balaclavas and black clothing, emerging from a white Peugeot Boxer van.

The group then made off in the direction of Victoria Road by foot before two of them entered a private hire vehicle at Hanley bus station.

One of the males in the minicab is described as wearing a green and black parka-style jacket.

The van was later found to be stolen and had been involved in a collision with a blue Ford Mondeo shortly before 7pm yesterday (Monday 4 April) on Ogden Road, Hanley.

The driver and the sole occupant of the Mondeo was not injured in the collision.

Officers are currently reviewing CCTV footage of the area at the time of the incident and are appealing for the private hire driver and anyone with information to come forward.

Contact Staffordshire Police on Facebook, Twitter, or call 101, quoting incident number 624 of 4 April.

Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.