The famous tagline “Guinness is good for you” applies only when the drink is bought and paid for, police have said, after thieves made off with more than 70,000 pints’ worth in Cheshire.

Officers said they believed two lorries were driven into a depot in Runcorn on Monday and attached to waiting trailers holding a combined total of about 800 barrels before being driven away.

Cheshire police said they hoped for a full recovery of the stolen barrels, and had appealed for witnesses who may have seen a lorry entering the Aston Lane area at about 7.45pm.

The first lorry was said to have connected to the HGV trailer before leaving the depot at about 7.55pm in the direction of the Mersey Gateway bridge. The second lorry arrived at the same site at 9.12pm and connected to another trailer before leaving at 9.30pm in the direction of Rainhill and Watkinson Way, police said.

DS McClatchy said: “It is famously said that ‘Guinness is good for you’, but that is only the case when it has been bought and paid for.

“It is with this in mind that we have wasted no time in launching inquires to identify those responsible for the theft of £115,000 worth of Guinness and the two trailers that housed the barrels. We will settle for nothing less than the full recovery of all the items stolen.”

When including the value of the trailers, the total value of the items stolen is estimated at about £205,000.

McClatchey asked anyone with information to speak to officers. “We would also ask any motorists who were driving in the area at the time of either of the incidents to please review any dashcam footage to see if you have captured anything that could aid our investigation.”

The stolen barrels, containing about 70,400 pints of Guinness, had been intended for delivery to pubs. Diageo, which owns the brand, has a packaging warehouse on the Whitehouse industrial estate on Aston Lane.

Police believe both HGVs were driven by men. The first driver was described as white with a short dark beard, and wearing a beanie hat. The second was believed to have been wearing a cap.

The trailers were described as white tri-axle curtain-side trailers with branding for the logistics company GXO on the curtains and rear doors. The trucks have the unique ID numbers DL736 and DL542 on the top left corner of their rear doors.