TWO young people ran away with a large fuel cannister after coming face to face with police.

Sgt Wood and PC Wilkins of Lymington and New Milton Police were heading back to the station at around 3.30pm on Monday (July 10) when they saw two youths in Avenue Road.

One of the youths was carrying a red fuel cannister and, upon seeing the officers, ran away and hid the cannister – apparently in the hope he hadn’t been seen.

According to police, after ditching the cannister the youths walked towards Sgt Wood thinking they hadn’t been spotted. Instead, they were promptly detained by the officers.

The cannister was later found in a hedge. Upon being questioned, the youths initially said that they were taking it to the home of a family member to use in a vehicle, before admitting they had found the cannister in a hedge.

Police also seized the cannister and have appealed for its rightful owner to come forward and claim it.

A police spokesperson said: “Although there was no indication that the youths were planning on using the fuel in the cannister to start a fire, malicious fire starting in Lymington and Pennington is one of our local priorities over the summer due to an increase in arsons over the school holidays.

“We will be dealing with any such offences robustly to prevent harm to the community.”

If you recognise the cannister, contact police quoting incident number 44230276982.