I left my car in an airport car park and came back to find my exhaust gone – I paid a premium and want answers
A MOTORIST returned from holiday to find his car vandalised after leaving it in an airport car park.
Derek Tonkin, 69, had been in Spain and had left his Toyota parked at East Midlands Airport.
As reported by the Nottingham Post, Mr Tonkin returned to find the catalytic converter on his Toyota Auris had been hacked off.
It left Mr Tonkin and his family stranded as they were unable to drive the car home.
Speaking to the Nottingham Post, Mr. Tonkin said: “We first parked up at the airport at 4.30am on October 20 for an early flight, and so someone has done this between then and 3pm on October 27.
“I saw that it had one of the Park Mark safety certificates on it, so to come back and find this was surprising.”
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“I’m wanting some answers now on why I paid a premium to park in a supposedly safe and secure car park and yet this has happened.”
Park Mark is an award given to car parks that have been investigated by the police and are deemed safe.
Mr. Tonkin reported the incident to the police but is unhappy with how the airport handled this case.
He continued: “Nobody had told me at all that the police were on their way and they had come to take an official report from me.
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“If we had left any earlier I’d have missed that chance and we might not have been able to make a proper criminal report about this.”
Inspector Stuart Wood at Leicestershire Police said: “We are aware of reports of catalytic convertors which have been stolen from vehicles parked at East Midlands Airport in recent weeks.
Officers continue to carry out patrols in the car parks and monitor the area.
Please continue to report any offences to us and any information or concerns to us as we continue to investigate these reports.”