TYRES stolen from Pirelli factory were bought on eBay by the company to confirm it had fallen victim to a major crime, a court has heard.

It is alleged that tyres worth more than £102,000 were stolen from the Dalston Road site and sold on the auction website.

Two men, Mark Claxton, 55, of The Square, Cummersdale, and Graham Wait, 58, of Bathgate are prepared to admit they were involved in earlier stages of the plot. A third, Barry White, 38, also of Bathgate, has gone on trial at Carlisle Crown Court.

It is alleged that White sold hundreds of the stolen tyres on eBay. However, he denies the allegation and has pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiring to steal during a 10-month period up to May, 2014.

John Rezin, a Pirelli security manager, gave evidence for the prosecution at the crown court.

He told jurors that on May 2, 2014, he received a telephone call which alerted him to the sale of Pirelli tyres on eBay.

Mr Rezin visited the seller’s page and saw a list of tyres sold by that particular account holder.

He noted that scores of positive feedback comments had been posted for products which were being sold for “considerably less” than the company’s recommended retail price.

A decision was taken to make a test purchase of what was recognised as a Carlisle-produced tyre from that seller.

Mr Rezin authorised an associate to buy four on his behalf. These were delivered initially to Birmingham, to disguise the Carlisle connection, before being transported to the Pirelli site.

A barcode was examined and provided proof the tyres had been made there.

Security camera footage of the Pirelli site was later scrutinised. This showed suspicious activity involving a lorry and trailer load of tyres which was bound for West Lothian.

Mr Rezin told the court that the eBay customer selling the tyres also appeared to have a West Lothian base.