The owners of a £30,000 car stolen from a drive in Brentwood claim they could have got it back if the Met and Essex Police coordinated a better response.

The Brentwood couple, who do not wish to be named, said their Jaguar F-Pace was at an address in Harold Wood hours after they reported it stolen as it was fitted with a tracker.

But when the case was passed to the Met Police at 11pm, 17 hours after the first report to Essex Police, the car had been moved and tracker disabled – leaving the owners “disappointed” and without any hope they will get their car back.

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CCTV footage appears to show a masked person break into the car and circumvent the electronic security system at around 6am on January 12.

The owner told the LDRS: “The disappointing part was that we had a tracker and we could tell them where it had gone and where it had been parked up.

"We could have got it back. We were able to show them the exact route they took.

“If you walk down the road every car has got a steering lock on the wheel. So that is what we are going to do now. It’s the only way.”

A spokesperson for the Met Police said: “Police were called at 11.08pm on Thursday, January 12 to a vehicle that was reported stolen from a property in Brentwood, Essex. The car had been tracked to a location in London.

“The Met conducted an initial investigation but as this crime took place in Essex it was transferred to them.

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“The initial investigating unit ensured all necessary steps were taken to preserve evidence and that the immediate needs of the investigation were met prior to the transfer.”

Essex Police said: “We were called to an address in Brentwood at around 6am on 12 January following reports of a Jaguar F-Pace being stolen from a driveway.

“The suspect was described as a white man, wearing a balaclava, a black puffa jacket and tracksuit bottoms.

“Despite several enquiries, this investigation has now been filed due to a lack of positive lines of enquiry. Should further information come to light, this investigation could be reviewed.”

Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “We regularly bust gangs. And it is entirely on the basis of that sort of evidence and intelligence and information. But we don’t get every single theft, unfortunately. But we do get the gangs.”