DETECTIVES from Northwich CID are appealing for information from the public following two separate robberies in the Middlewich Road area.

The first incident happened at about 7pm on Thursday, July 25, when a 16-year-old local boy was approached by two unknown men in Griffiths Park.

The men assaulted him and rifled through his belongings before fleeing the scene empty-handed, running onto Middlewich Road near the Co-op.

The victim, who suffered minor injuries as a result of the incident, could only describe the suspects as being men - one was black and one was white.

A short time later, between 7.15pm and 7.30pm, two men, age 17 and 18 from Manchester, were walking on Middlewich Road, near the ARC car wash, when a white car pulled up at the side of the road.

Three unknown men then got out of the car and began to assault the victims and stole a Gucci bag one of the men was carrying.

As the incident was ongoing a Good Samaritan stopped at the scene and offered the victims a lift in her car. They were then taken to a safe location.

One of the men suffered serious injuries as result of the incident and is being treated in hospital; the second man suffered minor injuries.

Det Con Paul Cundy said: “Incidents of this nature are rare in the Northwich area, and we are committed to doing all we can to trace the people responsible and bring them to justice.

“The investigations into these incidents are in their early stages and we are following a number of lines of inquiry. At the current time we are keeping an open mind as to whether the two incidents are linked.

“As part of our investigations we are keen to hear from anyone who was in the Middlewich Road area between 6.45pm and 7.30pm and believes they may have witnessed something which may assist our investigations.

“The same goes for anyone who believes they may have CCTV or dashcam footage that could aid our investigations.”

Anyone with information or CCTV footage regarding either of the incidents is asked to contact Cheshire Police on 101, quoting IML 467239, or via our website, at cheshire.police.uk/contact/general-enquiries.

Dashcam footage can be submitted online at cheshire.police.uk/advice-and-support/roads-and-vehicle-safety/submit-dashcam-footage