A GANG of children foiled a lorry raid in an adventure straight out of an Enid Blyton Famous Five book.

In the Bolton Evening News in 1992, it was reported that the young super-slueths were playing with their dog Sam when they spotted crooks trying to steal a lorry from a Bolton paper company.

But the five youngsters were left fuming when they were given their reward — three packets of paper.

Jim Powell, father of two of the eagle-eyed youngsters and landlord of the Bromilow Arms pub, Lostock, slammed bosses at nearby Guppy Paper for being tight-fisted.

He said: “Those lorries are worth thousands. But what the firm gave them as reward was an insult. They might as well have given them nothing.”

Jim’s two children, Nicola, aged 12, and Marc, aged six, were playing near the Guppy Paper factory, in Lostock Lane, with three friends when they saw the gang trying to break into the lorry.

Mr Powell said: “They thought the men were acting suspiciously, so they came running to the pub and told me. I thought it was just kids being over-imaginative, but they were very insistent I called the police.

“So I went to look for myself, but the thieves saw me and ran off. I called the police, but when they arrived the gang had gone.”

Dennis Horton, Guppy Paper’s warehouse manager, said he was grateful for what the children did.

“What they did was smashing. But I think people should do public-spirited things without looking to get a reward. I sent round some paper for the kids to draw on because of what they did. I just acted instinctively.”