DETECTIVES hunting a gang who kidnapped a businessman are concentrating on a crucial 48 hours.

They believe that discovering where the abductors' van was in the hours leading up to the snatch will help them solve the case.

Police also need to speak to anyone who saw the gang struggling with their victim, Tony Pattison, at a seafront car park on Monday afternoon.

Mr Pattison had visited a car repair garage in Dalton Street, Hartlepool, at about 2pm that day and was last seen walking towards his car.

Police know he drove his dark-coloured Vauxhall Vectra to nearby Seaton Carew, where he parked near the fairground and waterworks while he ate a sandwich.

Mr Pattison spoke to a man in a car parked nearby when he was suddenly aware of a person wrenching open the door of his car.

Detective Superintendent Brian Dunn, who is leading the inquiry, said: "He was dragged from his vehicle and bundled into a white Ford Transit van, where he was tied up as the vehicle moved off.

"His abductors told him that they had been following him, they knew who he was and that he had been kidnapped."

Mr Pattison was kept overnight in an unknown building and then driven around for a considerable part of Tuesday, Det Supt Dunn told a Press conference yesterday.

After negotiations with Mr Pattison's family, he was taken to a shed at the end of a dirt track near the Samsung factory, which is signposted to Woodside Farm.

He was kept there until his release at about 9.30pm.

Police, who had mounted a covert operation, picked up a suspect in a white Transit van in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, 90 minutes later.

Det Supt Dunn said: "It is imperative that we hear from people who might have seen the struggle in the car park and seen this white van, registration Y599 GFT, particularly on the A689 heading towards Hartlepool from the direction of Sedgefield.

"At the present time we are not in a position to give any descriptions of the men in the van. However, Mr Pattison, who has links with the Washington area, tells us he believes they were speaking with Wearside accents."

The investigation, which was described as a major operation, is centred on the Hartlepool area, but inquiries are being carried out across the region with help from neighbouring forces in Durham, North Yorkshire and Northumbria.

Anyone with information can contact police on (01642) 303187 and (01642) 301783, or Crimestoppers on (0800) 555111.