A mum has issued a warning to Trafford Centre shoppers ahead of the bank holiday weekend after what she described as a 'scary' incident in the car park.
Heather Dunn, 39, visited the shopping centre on Tuesday at around 7pm and drove into a parking space. She said as she did she noticed another vehicle pull up behind her.
As she tried to lock her Nissan Juke, the mum-of-two claims she was unable to do so and noticed that two men and a woman sat in the car behind were 'staring at her.'
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Feeling uneasy about the situation, Heather said she decided to move her car to another parking space some distance away. She said when she did so, she was able to lock her car easily.
Heather, who lives in Bury, said she wants to warn other drivers to ensure 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.
She said she reported the incident to the Trafford Centre's security and 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 M.E.N, 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.
"I didn’t manage to get the registration of the car myself. I was so anxious I just wanted to get away from them," she said. "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."
