Dame Joanna Lumley was targeted by thieves who tried to steal her car in south London.
The Absolutely Fabulous legend, 79, came out of her £2.5million townhouse in Stockwell to see a group of masked men revving motorbikes while trying to break into her car, according to reports.
One thief was in the driver’s seat, but was unable to start the car, while the car alarm wailed.
Lumley and a neighbour are said to have shouted at the gang, who then left the scene, leaving damage to the boot of the car.
The Standard have contacted a representative of Lumley for comment.
A neighbour told the Mail Online police had warned residents on March 28 about a series of car break-ins in the area - with another neighbour saying there had been “quite a few” car break-ins by “thieves on motorbikes”.
The incident was first reported by Times columnist Emma Duncan, who described coming in the middle of the night to help scare away the thieves after hearing a “commotion”.
She wrote: “I yelled at them to f*** off; at which point I realised that Joanna Lumley, who lives down the street, had joined me and was doing much the same. The men obligingly f*** off. “
Police confirmed there had been three reports of attempted break-ins to vehicles in the area between Thursday, March 26 and Saturday, March 28.
Almost half of Londoners have suffered vehicle crime in the past 12 months, according to research by RAC.
It comes after reports in January that 88.5 per cent of car thefts in London that are reported to the Met Police are unsolved, according to data from the House of Commons library commissioned by the Liberal Democrats.
The Lib Dems have called for action to be taken to tackle the issue, as the Met states that car crime had a "significant impact on victims and communities".
According to a report from the Guardian last year, London’s West End in Westminster had the highest number of car thefts for any ward in the country at 1,171 incidents – 98% of which didn’t result in a prosecution.
Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson MP has led the calls for action to be taken on the issue, stating that the previous Conservative government oversaw "years of self-defeating cuts to our police forces" while the current Labour government "must not turn a blind eye to this epidemic".
The Lib Dems have called for the formation of a specialist crack team, based at the National Crime Agency.
This organisation could pool data from automatic number plate recognition cameras, insurance records, and intelligence from police forces and border control to target organised car crime networks more effectively.
A Home Office spokesman stated that "not enough has been done to prevent these crimes or to bring those responsible to justice".
He went on to highlight that the government was "introducing new laws to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, to training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles".
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “Tackling car theft and other neighbourhood crime remains a priority for the Met.
“We have strengthened neighbourhood policing, with more officers focused on identifying and targeting the most prolific offenders who cause the greatest harm to communities.
“Across London, vehicle crime, including theft and damage to vehicles, is down by almost 15 per cent compared with this time last year.”
