A primary school teacher has been left devastated after her car was stolen from a car park just metres from the doors to the Trafford Centre. Security staff told her 'this happens all the time', she claims, leaving her hopeless that she will ever get her car back.
Rachael Dunn, from Halifax, had made the journey to visit the shopping centre during her precious Easter break as a birthday treat, hoping for a relaxing afternoon with husband Simon. The couple arrived at around 1pm on Tuesday, April 12, parking on the Upper Regent 1 shopping centre car park, a short distance away from the entrance.
The couple 'had a lovely afternoon' eating lunch out and doing her birthday shopping, but emerged at around 5.30pm to find their car had being taken. The ordeal turned into a nightmare as both Trafford Centre security and Greater Manchester Police 'have yet to do anything' to locate the missing vehicle worth thousands, at a time when families across the countries are struggling with their bills.
"There wasn't anything around to raise suspicion," Rachael told the Manchester Evening News. "But we came back and our car was missing. We went to speak to security and they said 'it happens every other day.'
"Security says they are patrolling the car park, but they're clearly doing nothing. I feel really let down by both them and the police.
"If cars are being stolen every other day from the Trafford Centre, what need to happen for someone to do something about it? It might [spring the Trafford Centre into action] if it affects the income [of the shopping centre], the only way that's going to happen is if people are aware [this is happening].
Rachael, 43, says that shortly after reporting the theft she received a text from Greater Manchester Police reading 'no further investigation'. She also says she has had 'no further contact' from the Trafford Centre, adding to frustrations that security and police 'are not doing anything' to help recover her Ford Fiesta ST - worth around £10,500 when she purchased the car in 2019.
"I'm heartbroken. We'd had such a lovely day and it was ruined at the end. It took us four hours to get home," continued Rachael.
"The police aren't bothered, the Trafford Centre isn't bothered. I feel like nobody cares and nobody is going to stop [the thieves] - so customers are going to come out and be subjected to what we have been.
"These criminals have no morals, they don't care about anybody else."
A spokesperson for the Trafford Centre said: "Our security team takes 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."
Greater Manchester Police has been contacted for comment.
The theft occurred exactly the same day as one mum issued a warning to Trafford Centre shoppers after what she described as a 'scary' incident in the car park.
Heather Dunn, 39, visited the shopping centre on the same 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.'
Feeling uneasy about the situation, Heather 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.
