A MAN was disturbed in his attempt to steal bags from a van by a neighbor who shouted at him, police have said.

The man, described as being about 30-years-old, smashed the driver’s side front and rear windows to get into a white Transit Van in Bishop Auckland at around 4am on Friday, February 7.

The man, who was wearing a grey hooded top, then took two holdalls from the van, but he dropped them after a neighbor shouted at him from a bedroom window.

PC Jamie Pitt said the man then fled and is believed to have run away along the back of Oak Terrace, along Cedar Road and towards the General Bucher Court area.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact PC Jamie Pitt at Bishop Auckland Police Station on 101.