A Rolls-Royce worth £350,000 that was stolen from the home of a Glasgow chef has been found dumped by bungling thieves in Edinburgh.
The high-value car was stolen from the home of Domenico Crolla - the owner of south side restaurant Oro - on March 21 along with a black Ferrari Scaglietti, worth more than £100,000.
Thieves drove both cars 50 miles to the capital city before illegally parking the Rolls-Royce on Brunswick Street. The Ferrari was also traced in the Edinburgh area, reports the Daily Record.
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The gang had broken into Domenico and his wife Genny's home in the south side around 8.30pm before driving off in the luxury vehicles.
The furious owner of the private plot then mistakenly sent a message to another member of the Crolla family asking: "Why is your Rolls-Royce parked on my parking space?"
The family member recognised the flash car and phoned Domenico who is currently in the middle of a business trip to the US to tell him it had been found.
A family source revealed how Domenico finally got his car back, saying: "Domenico was shocked to hear from another Crolla that the car had popped up on Brunswick Street in Edinburgh, complete with two parking tickets and a furious owner of the parking space.
"Because the car has a - registration with the 'Crolla' name, the chap assumed it belonged to the Edinburgh Crollas and he phoned them up. He thought it was just a Flash Harry thing to do but it ended up being a completely unexpected twist in the story."
Domenico, 57, is renowned as one of the world's top pizza makers and has made famous pizza art in the image of celebrities including the Queen and Simon Cowell.
He had assumed that the cars would be shipped off abroad and had been stolen to order by a major crime gang. Police have now confirmed both cars have been recovered in Edinburgh.
The source said: "The fact the cars were both found with their proper registrations possibly suggests that the thieves got cold feet. It's hard to think they were going back to retrieve the car at any point.
"It looked like the outset like a very professional job, as they used a grinder to get through security gates and they got away quickly after finding the car keys in the home. But at the end of the day, they were driving in Edinburgh with a very rare, sparkling white Rolls-Royce, which would be utterly impossible to sell in the UK. It looks like it was a highly professional job up to the final stages."
Police have confirmed both cars have been recovered in Edinburgh. Detective Inspector Gary Cassidy said both cars were seen on the M8 heading to Edinburgh around 9pm on Tuesday. He appealed for witnesses.
It's understood the vehicles will be thoroughly searched and analysed by forensics experts at specialist car crime facilities.
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