Customer's car stolen from commercial garage

Mr Welch, 36, of Ulfgar Road, Wolvercote, Oxford, posted his keys through the letterbox of Audi dealership Motorworld, in Kidlington, the night before his car was due in for a service.

The following day, March 22, he contacted garage bosses and discovered his green P-reg car had been stolen by thieves who fished his keys out of the letterbox.

Mr Welch, who works at various clubs including the Zodiac club in Cowley Road, Oxford, was furious when he read in the Oxford Mail about a similar theft last weekend. Two more Audi saloons were stolen from the forecourt of the garage, on the corner of Oxford Road. Mr Welch, who also works for the Rover Group in Cowley, said: "I thought my car would be safe with the garage once I had dropped my keys off, but that was not the case. The garage told me it was not their responsibility but I am not all at happy with the level of customer care. They definitely have not heard the last of me."

Last night, police told Mr Welch his car had been found in Leeds.

"I hope it is in one piece," he said. "There was a CD player and camera inside and I'm worried they will have been taken."

Alf Middleton, managing director of Motorworld, said Mr Welch had been warned by staff that he was still responsible for the vehicle if he dropped the keys in the letterbox.

He said: "Mr Welch had done this before and had been warned that it was not a safe thing to do. The keys were not even in an envelope. We have received a letter from Mr Welch and we will be replying in the near future. "This is very regrettable and we are now in the process of installing security cameras to try to prevent this happening in the future."

Mr Middleton said all three car thefts had been reported to the police. He added: "During the past four months some of our cars have also been vandalised."

Story date: Friday 16 April

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.