Four Qormi youths, aged between 14 and 16 years, are being held by the police on suspicion of theft of motorcycles and the attempted burglary of a shop.

The youths' brush with the law started at around midnight on Monday when policemen doing the rounds at Marsaxlokk noted a young person riding a motorbike without a crash helmet.

When the police approached him, the Community and Media Relations Unit said, the teenager got off his machine and fled away running. Not far from him there were another three young people who also fled when they saw the police, who chased them and with the help of Birzebbugia and Mobile Squad police rounded them up.

In their dash from the police, one of the young men threw away a basket.

In their investigations the police discovered that the motorcycle they had seen being ridden was stolen. They also discovered that the four young men had gone to Marsaxlokk on two other machines, one of them stolen, the other displaying stolen registration plates.

In the basket which had discarded on the road the police found tools and a black shawl. Further investigations also showed that a break-in had been attempted on a shop in the area.