A group of Ascot residents have reached out saying that the rise in keyless car thefts is ‘becoming a plague that has only accelerated by rising inflation’.
Keyless card thefts throughout Ascot and Bracknell Forest as a whole has seen a huge rise with sometimes three or four incidents a week reported.
Following these thefts, the majority are never recovered or investigated further.
A resident from North Ascot who has been one of the unfortunate victims said: “Our Black BMW M340i was stolen last week Monday and they even broke into the house to retrieve the key which woke me, and when I shouted out from the landing at them, I was met with a reply in Polish.”
“Every day there seems to be new reports of car thefts in the area; only this morning I was woken to our neighbour’s car alarm sounding at 2am; we can only speculate this was an attempted theft.”
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After recognising the number of victims in one area, small groups have been formed to discuss experiences and take steps to warn others about the dangers.
There is said to be little to no confidence that the cars are to be recovered, which are in many cases worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
With the cost of spare parts rising and the car market back logged, new cars are being seen more of a luxury than they have ever been.
A Thames Valley Police spokesperson said: “The force has seen a rise in keyless car thefts recently and we appreciate having your car broken into and taken can be very distressing.
“Officers are continuing to investigate and anyone with information should call us on 101 or make a report on our website.
“Preventing car and vehicle theft advice can be found on our website.”
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