A brave milkman carried on his early morning round - despite being 'threatened with a weapon' by a thug who stole his van, leaving him stranded.
Milkman Rick Brockley was delivering milk from Smithills Open Farm around Bolton in the early hours of Thursday morning, starting at an eye-watering 3am.
At around 5am, the 38-year-old got out of his cow-print van - a tactic designed by farm bosses to be noticeable in case it's stolen - in Brownlow Road in Horwich.
"It was a normal round until around half-way through," said Rick.
"I pulled up at a customers house and I left my van partially in the road because there's never anyone about at that time in the morning. I opened up my side door, got the produce and went over to the house.
"While I was there, I heard the door slide shut. I didn't think anything of it because that sometimes happened if you're parked on a bit of a hill. But when I got back to the van, there was a guy sat in my cab.
"I though 'oh god, what's going on here.' He just said, 'I'm taking your van'. I tried to get inside, but he had locked the door."
The danger escalated as the brazen thief waved a 'weapon' at Rick.
"He waved something, I don't know if it was a knife or screwdriver," said the milkman.
"I just thought, I'll leave it, I'm not getting stabbed or beaten up.
"He tried to make off but stalled the van. I knew that would mean the doors were unlocked, so I tried to get inside again but he kept his finger over the lock.
"He stuck it in reverse and sped off. I just thought 'is this really happening?'
"I was stranded in the middle of Horwich in the pouring rain."
Rick called his boss at Smithills Open Farm and was picked up after an hour. But rather than abandoning work for the day, he got another van from the farm and carried on his round.
"I was a bit delayed, some customers were starting to get a bit worried that they weren't going to get their milk," said Rick.
"I wasn't harmed in any way so I wanted to get back out there. Some people rely on us for their produce because they can't come out if they are isolating. It's my job."
After Rick's plight was shared on social media, communities around Bolton came together to try and find the van.
Just a few hours after it was first stolen, the cow-themed van was discovered abandoned in Chorley - with all of the milk Rick was yet to deliver still inside.
The van was left trashed by the culprit, said Rick. "It has been damaged, they've clearly been off-roading in it.
"All the milk was still inside, but the they smashed all the boxes of eggs that were in the cab."
The brave milkman added: "I didn't think much about what happened until I got home later that day.
"You always wonder if you could have done something differently, but by the same token, I could have been stabbed or beaten up.
"It has made me a little nervous. I was back out on Saturday morning and whenever I saw headlights coming, I got a little twitchy.
"But I'll get over it in time. It was just an opportunist who thought, 'I'm having that'."
Greater Manchester Police has been contacted for comment.
