A woman's £35,000 Land Rover was stolen from a car dealership while waiting for a routine MOT. Tracy Holmes, who bought her prized possession around four years ago, was "stunned and devastated" to find out the motor had been nicked.
Tracy, from Ingleby Barwick in North Yorkshire, took her car to a local car dealership which she regularly uses around 4pm on Monday, April 24, and was leaving it there overnight. After making a work trip to Hull the next morning, she was stunned to get a call telling her it had been taken from the garage forecourt before workers had been able to test it.
Cleveland Police confirmed it received a call to reports a black Land Rover Discovery was stolen in the early hours of Tuesday morning and have launched a probe into the theft, reports TeesideLive.
Tracy told TeesideLive: "I was in Hull [on Tuesday] and just after 10am and I got a phone call from their customer relations. He said: 'Could you advise us where you have parked your car?' I explained where I had parked it in their forecourt.
"I said I don't think it will be there now because the lady told me you would be moving it into a more secure compound out the back. I said: 'Why, what is the issue?' He said: 'Your car has been pinched.' I honestly thought I was getting a prank played on me. I really did."
Tracy claims the car was not in fact taken to the secure compound as she insists she was informed it would be. She claims has received "no empathy" from the company and no apology.
She added: "I was stunned but I was devastated. You put your car into a garage to keep it legal on the road and then you get a call to say it's been pinched while it has been put into their hands."
Tracy has launched a plea on social media in a bid to trace her motor - and is also urging the dealership to provide a courtesy car as she has concerns of losing income from not being able to travel for work. "I'm not wanting anything flash - I'll have whatever they will give me that has got four wheels and it works!," she said.
A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: "We were called to reports that a Black Land Rover Discovery was stolen in the early hours of Tuesday, April 25, from Stratstone Land Rover dealership in Stockton. Enquiries are ongoing. Anyone with information should contact us on 101, quoting reference number 078056."
A spokseman for Pendragon, the motor retailer head office of Stratstone Land Rover, said: "We have been made aware of this incident and are working closely with local police to investigate the situation further."
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