'Thieves broke into my car - to take parcel shelf'

"She said people "just couldn't believe" cars were being broken into just for the shelves. The Met Police opened an investigation following a number of parcel shelves being stolen from cars in Hampstead and Highgate, the force said. Sam Phipps Phipps told BBC Radio London her car was targeted despite only having her gym bag, out of sight, in the boot."

"She decided not to claim on her insurance because of the cost of the excess. She said: "It didn't look like anything had been missing initially until we noticed the retractable parcel shelf had been removed. "We had to wait weeks for the new window because it's such a common problem in north London that the demand for the windows was just exceeding their ability to supply them. "We were told, if we replaced it, to take the parcel shelf out at night.""

""We looked on eBay and there were hundreds of them available and, strangely, we found one that was our exact model, the exact year, and it had been placed that morning after ours had been stolen the day before. "I did a bit of research and found the seller on Instagram and it was probably a girl in her early 20s, and the address of the seller was a flat on Caledonian Road, which is about 20 minutes from us.""

A north London motorist had her rear window smashed and a retractable parcel shelf stolen, costing about £800 and long waits for replacement due to high local demand. The theft occurred despite only a gym bag being stored out of sight in the boot. Parcel shelves can be resold online for up to £150, and dozens were listed on auction and social platforms. The owner tracked a matching listing and a likely seller on Instagram but did not confront them. The Metropolitan Police opened an investigation amid reports of similar thefts in Hampstead and Highgate.

Read at www.bbc.com