MORE than £100,000 in stolen property was recovered by police after a dramatic car chase that ended in a river rescue.

Property, including two cars, two quad bikes and hundreds of pounds worth of power tools, was found at four different addresses in the Trevethin area in a series of dawn raids yesterday.

The raids follow an incident last week when police disturbed a man allegedly stealing a trailer and quad bike from a farm near Glascoed.

A chase involving traffic police, dog-handlers and a police helicopter ended when the man, driving a stolen Land-Rover, cut through Pontypool Park, lost control and crashed into railings.

Det-Sgt Ieuan Watkins, of Pontypool police, said: "He then jumped into the Afon Llywd and had to be rescued by police because he was clearly struggling."

Following that arrest, police launched Operation Highlander, investigating burglaries in the Pontypool, Cwmbran and Abersychan areas, and yesterday executed search warrants at the Trevethin addresses.

One man was arrested and charged and police were today set to interview another man.

Anyone who believes they may be the owners of the stolen property should contact police on 01495 764711.