A 12-YEAR-OLD York boy has been questioned by police after two dumper truck rampages in York.

The boy was arrested last night after police were told that a large dumper truck was being driven in a field near Tang Hall.

It careered down a cycle path and smashed into bollards and two street lamps.

The boy was also questioned in connection with an incident on Sunday night in which another stolen dumper truck careered down residential streets, stopping only metres from a house.

No charges have been brought against the boy, who was released on police bail last night.

In the latest incident, members of the public called police after spotting a boy taking a large, yellow truck from the Applefields special school building site on Bad Bargain Lane, shortly after 6pm yesterday.

Witnesses saw it being driven along a field towards Metcalfe Lane, followed by a gang of youths on bicycles.

When two police officers arrived, the truck's driver fled, but he was caught at the Constantine Avenue junction and arrested for aggravated vehicle taking.

Electricians called to the scene said that the smashed street lamps could cost up to £2,000 to replace.

Police returned the damaged truck, owned by a Barnsley hire firm, to the building site last night.

In Sunday's incident, a six-tonne truck was stolen from a Windmill Lane construction site near Tang Hall.

It was driven down Tang Hall Lane and Fifth Avenue. Barman Darren Grant, 21, jumped behind the wheel of the truck and managed to stop it just before it would have hit a house in Constantine Avenue. No one was hurt in either incident.

Updated: 10:44 Tuesday, March 16, 2004