9:01 am, November 20, 2013
A CAR has been stolen from a used car dealership in Witney after thieves raided the showroom.
The Oxfordshire-based dealership, Mick Partlett Car Sales, was broken into during the early hours of Wednesday morning last week.
According to the Oxford Mail, business owner, Mick Partlett, said the burglars forced their way through the back door and took a £6,500 Renault Clio GT along with charity collections boxes, number plates and invoice pads.
He said that a CCTV camera capturing the footage was vandalised by the thieves and they had searched his office before cutting the padlock on the shutters and driving the Clio away from the scene.
Partlett said the raid could have cost the business more than £9,000, but he feared the insurance would not cover the loss because the keys had been left in the car.
He told his local newspaper: ‘I came to work and the place had been absolutely ransacked.
‘They could have broken into this place 100 times and got away with nothing. It is unbelievable how this has happened as normally we wouldn’t have left the keys in the car.’
He added: ‘It is just annoying more than anything else. It is as if someone was trying to stop my business.’
The stolen Renault Clio GT had already been sold to a buyer in Swindon and was due to leave the garage the following weekend.
Police investigating the robbery said the crime was committed between 12.30am and 8.45am and are urging witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.
