A man’s weekend shopping trip turned into a “nightmare” when he returned to the carpark to find his vehicle had been stolen.
Mark Barlow, from Widnes, Cheshire, had gone to the Trafford Centre, in Manchester on the afternoon of Saturday September 25 when the frustrating incident took place.
When he returned to the carpark after several hours spent browsing the shops with his partner, he discovered his Ford Focus was missing.
At first, he thought he had mistakenly returned to the wrong parking spot. But his phone confirmed the space he had originally parked in was right in front of him, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Mr Barlow told the Echo: "I went to the security and explained the situation to them. At first, they were understanding and started to help with the situation. But then when I told them it was a Ford Focus they looked at each other and made out it was happening every day.
"They told me the best thing I could do was get in touch with the police as there wasn't anything they could do. There wasn't one bit of reassurance from the people who were meant to be helping. It was terrible."
Mr Barlow contacted Greater Manchester Police who filed a missing car report. But the force added the officer in charge of the case was not working on Sunday, leaving the 27-year-old in the dark.
Mr Barlow googled missing Ford Focuses and read online that a number had been found in Bolton. The day after the car went missing he resorted to driving around Bolton with his mum and partner trying to find the missing car.
He said he returned empty handed and spent the evening "stressing". He even called The Trafford Centre to ask for CCTV of the car park but was told it couldn't be handed out because of GDPR rules.
But the following day he was contacted by police who said the car had been found - at 2pm on the Sunday. He said: "I wish I had been told the previous day when I was searching for the car - it might have helped me sleep a bit better."
The car was found just streets away from where Mr Barlow was searching in Bolton. But his struggles with the vehicle didn't stop there, as he had to pay to pick up the car from the police and change the plates.
He told the Echo: "It was all a bit crazy. It was a nightmare. I think it will be a bit of time before I go back to The Trafford Centre."
A spokesperson for The Trafford Centre told the Echo: “Our security and customer services teams take all customer complaints seriously and, when required, we assist Greater Manchester Police with any enquiries.
"We have very little car theft on site thanks to our use of ANPR and camera patrols. In this instance, upon report of the stolen car, we dispatched our emergency vehicle to search. When it could not be located, the police were contacted and the matter was dealt with by GMP from then onwards.”
The Mirror has contacted Greater Manchester Police for comment.
