GREAT detective skills were not needed to track down a trailer stolen from a Longridge field.

Blackburn magistrates heard the thief advertised the trailer for sale on eBay and when the lawful owner and the police turned up at his home the trailer was parked outside.

Aaron Steven Strahand, 29, of Grange Avenue, Preston, pleaded guilty to theft of the £300 trailer belonging to Gordon Crook. He was fined £160 with £90 costs.

Aftab Bakhat, defending, said the trailer was parked in a field blocking a hole in a wall and Strahand regularly drove past it.

“He thought it was abandoned,” said Mr Bakhat. “The trailer has been recovered, probably a bit cleaner than when it was taken.”