A FAMILY was left shivering and stranded outside a Cowley swimming pool after thieves stole their clothes and car while they took a dip.

Tommy Molloy took his three children, Thomas, nine, James, three, and Rosie, one, to Temple Cowley Pools at 5.30pm last Tuesday for a swim.

But when they went to get dressed they discovered their locker had been broken into, their clothes had gone and Mr Molloy’s purple BMW convertible – registration M645 TMC – was nowhere to be seen.

His £340 wage packet was also taken from the locker along with his Nokia N95 mobile phone with about 1,000 photos of his children on it. He is offering a reward of £100 for the return of the phone.

The 30-year-old builder said: “The kids were cold but some of the people using the pool found them some T-shirts and got them dressed, and one really nice person bought them crisps and drinks. The managers didn’t have any spare towels.”

Mr Molloy scoured the car park and bins for any of his belongings the thieves might have discarded, but to no avail. However, when he was about to leave, some children ran over after finding some of the clothes stuffed in another locker.

Mr Molloy’s mother collected the family, bringing fresh clothes, and took the children home to Kestrel Crescent, in Blackbird Leys.

Mr Molloy, of Claymond Road, Headington, said: “I think it’s despicable how someone can come and take kids' clothes and a car. They were very upset Daddy’s new car had been stolen.

“Thomas said maybe someone had borrowed it and left it somewhere else but I had to explain that there are some really bad people in the world and they take things that don’t belong to them.

“The phone had some treasured memories of the kids’ first day at school. There will be a £100 reward if someone returns it to the police.”

David Evans, general manager at Temple Cowley Pools, said: “It’s an extremely upsetting incident and we’re very sorry Mr Molloy experienced the theft.

“While staff check the changing rooms on a regular basis I would ask customers to help us by being vigilant and report any suspicious activities immediately to one of the team.”

Anyone with information should call Cowley police on 08458 505505.