A father from Bexleyheath says he has been “fobbed off” by his Ford garage after his keyless Kuga car was stolen from his driveway.

In February, Jake Hopkins, 47, returned from holiday to find his house on Freta Road, Bexleyheath, had been burgled. Thieves had stolen his wife’s purse as well as the spare key fob for his car.

Concerned that the burglars might return to steal the vehicle, Mr Hopkins contacted his Ford garage in Crayford the next day to arrange for the fobs to be reprogrammed as an interim measure.

He says was assured that his car would be safe if engineers at the garage re-programmed his key fob – for a fee of £270.

“When I spoke to the service desk face to face, they 100 per cent categorically assured me that the car couldn't be taken even with the stolen key fobs once they reprogrammed the car,” he told News Shopper.

After handing over the money for the re-programming, Mr Hopkins was confident his car was safe – until it was stolen from his driveway the following day.

“Pardon the pun, but Ford has quite frankly fobbed me off,” he said.

He added: “Either they hadn’t reprogrammed the fob or the customer service person gave me the wrong information.

“Ford has a care of duty to customers which has fallen down.”

After going back to the Ford garage to complain about the incident, Mr Hopkins claims he was denied a refund for the work.

Robert Humphries, manager of the garage, denied the accusations and insisted his staff would not guarantee a car would be safe under any circumstances.

He said: “Mr Hopkins came in and we did explain two options he had: Change all the locks and then the vehicle is more secure, or we can reprogram the keys which will cut out the immobiliser.

“Mr Hopkins decided to go with supplying another key and reprogramming one of the original keys.

“As we are all aware if someone wants a vehicle they will be able to get the vehicle as there are devices that can override the immobiliser.”

Mr Hopkins, who has bought another vehicle since his Ford was stolen, confirmed he will not be purchasing another car from Ford in the future.