A mum has issued a warning to shoppers ahead of the bank holiday weekend after trying to lock her car ended in a "scary ordeal".
Heather Dunn, 39, visited Trafford Centre, Manchester, on Tuesday at 7pm and as she drove into a parking space, she noticed another vehicle pull up behind her.
The mum-of-two, who lives in Bury, claims she then got out of the car and tried to lock her Nissan Juke, but she was unable to do so and noticed that two men and a woman sat in the car behind were staring at her, Manchester Evening News reported.
Slightly alarmed by the situation, Heather decided to move her car to another parking space some distance away and was able to lock her car easily.
Heather is urging other drivers to make sure their cars are locked before leaving them, as she fears the people might have been jamming her signal in an attempt to steal the car.
When she reported the incident to Trafford Centre's security, she claims she was told by a member of staff that this was not the first report of people's car fobs not working in the car park.
Speaking to the MEN , she said: "I visited the Trafford Centre on Tuesday night at about 7pm. I arrived in the car park and pulled up in a parking space.
"I went to get my coat out of the car and noticed a car pull up behind me with two guys and a girl.
"I tried locking my car but nothing was happening. I opened and shut all my doors again but nothing was working. Then I went round to the front of my car and it locked.
"I realised they must have been doing something to jam the signal. I got back in the car and looked at them in the wing mirror and they were looking away from me.
"I moved my car and then it locked straight away. I rang the Trafford Centre yesterday and they said this is not the first time this had been reported."
Heather said she was informed by the security manager that they would view the CCTV cameras and pass the registration details of the car for Greater Manchester Police to investigate.
She said: "I didn’t manage to get the registration of the car myself. I was so anxious I just wanted to get away from them. There weren't many other people around.
"My car is only a Nissan Juke. There were lots of spaces nearby and there was no real need for them to pull up directly behind me. I think their car was a black VW.
"I would say one of the guys was in his 30s, the other was probably in his 20s and the girl was probably in her 20s too.
"It was only because I was getting my coat out and I didn’t hear the car click that I realised it hadn’t locked. I want to make people aware to make sure their car is definitely locked.
"If I hadn’t checked I would have come out and my car would have been gone. That is pretty scary. I am guessing they were just trying their luck."
A spokesperson for the Trafford Centre said: "We are investigating this customer report and reviewing CCTV footage from the evening.
"Our security teams are always alert to any customer concerns and we continue to carefully monitor our car parks at all times."
