A company director returned to the UK after a holiday in Torrevieja – to discover his £105,000 Range Rover had been stolen from an airport priority car park.
“It’s been a nightmare. If I left the car in any old car park I wouldn’t be crying about it, but then I leave it with the official car park that is why I’m upset,” said owner Alan Powell.
Powell, 51, dropped his Range Rover Sport SVR, at Luton Airport Priority Parking before flying to Spain, with his wife and mother-in-law.
The following day he got an alert on an app for his car saying it has been stolen, and the tracker had been taken off.
Powell rang the car park, given a Park Mark by the Safer Parking Scheme in the UK, and he claimed he had to tell them the car had disappeared – before they confirmed it had gone.
Meanwhile, police and the vehicle manufacturers can find no further trace of the Range Rover and Mr Powell has been told it may have been shipped abroad by thieves.
Police told him the car’s keys were cloned and tracked to a street in the Isle of Dogs, East London, before the tracker was removed by the thieves.
Powell, from Milton Keynes, says he paid about £180 to leave his luxury car in good hands, before travelling to spend a week in Torrevieja.
“The police informed me that the key was cloned and that the tracker had been taken off and they don’t expect to find it.
“It’s the airport car parks’ attitude that is unbelievable. You put trust and pay a lot of money to park there, but the truth is if I had my key then my car would still be in the car park,” he said.
When he phoned Bedfordshire Police, they spoke with Land Rover who provided information on where the vehicle was.
It was shown to be in the area of Stebondale Street in East London, 54 miles away from the priority car park.
In correspondence between Bedfordshire Police and Powell, the Metropolitan Police were sent out to the area, but couldn’t find the vehicle.
Police said Land Rover provides daily checks on “outstanding vehicles” to try and get a response from the trackers on the car, which has so far “proved negative”.
The email adds: “We have placed a marker on the vehicle so if it is driven on the correct index plates it will activate the ANPR camera system which will then give any police force in England and Wales a location, at this time there have been no ANPR hits.
“It is possible that the thieves have deactivated the tracker or already shipped it abroad and therefore preventing any attempt to retrieve it.”
APCOA, the firm that owns the car park, say on their website: “Most of our car parks have been awarded the Safer Car Park award. The car park may be monitored by CCTV. Instead of relying solely on the car park attendants, CCTV cameras monitor the car parks. CCTV images may be also monitored on-site by our APCOA staff who may be in attendance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For more information please refer to the relevant page for each site.”
Powell said: “It’s just disgusting. The reason I am talking is I don’t want anyone else to have to go through this.
“I’m going to be carless. My insurance company is giving me a car for 14 days.
“From the second day of my holiday, it’s been a nightmare.”
An APCOA spokesperson said: “Theft of high-value luxury vehicles via key cloning is a well-documented issue.
“APCOA takes the security of vehicles parked in our car parks very seriously and we have a number of measures in place including CCTV, number plate recognition cameras and regular patrols by parking staff, airport security and police. In addition, vehicle keys are stored securely.
“We have been in contact with Mr Powell to provide information and support and are assisting the police investigation.”
A Bedfordshire Police spokesperson said: “Bedfordshire Police was made aware of a theft of motor vehicle in Airport Way, Luton, on 11 April.
“An investigation is ongoing, and several lines of enquiry are being carried out.
“If you have any information call 101, or online, and quote reference 40/19263/23.”
