Police are investigating a theft of car parts in Byefield Car Park, Abergavenny last week, after a man returned to his car after shopping to find most of the front of his vehicle had been stripped.

Mr Allen Powell arrived at the car park on Monday March 24 at approximately 10.30am and returned to his vehicle around an hour later - but what he found there really shocked him.

His silver/grey Ford Fiesta LX, was virtually unrecognisable, after having its grill, headlights, bonnet, radiator, fan belt and air conditioning system stolen.

Mr Powell said, "Me and my wife parked not in the main car park, but in the side car park next to the overflow. We assumed everything would be fine, as the car was locked up, and the car park was fairly busy at that time of the morning.

"But when we returned and saw our car, we couldn't believe it was ours. The front of the car had been almost completely dismantled. We almost wished the car had been stolen, it would have been less difficult for us.

"It must have happened extremely quickly, as we weren't gone from our car for very long, and to do all that they did, they must have been very noticeable, but maybe any passersby assumed it was someone who had broken down.

"We were parked near the bins there, and a man who works there said he had seen our car at around 11am all in one piece, so it's put the time of when they were able to do it between 11.20 and 11.45 when we returned."

Upon discovering his vehicle in this state, he quickly went to the Abergavenny Police Station to report the crime.

Mr Powell said, "The Police were extremely helpful. They took us into the station, interviewed us about what happened, took down all the details that they could, and quickly got on the case to find out what happened.

"My wife was distraught, and I'll admit I was too, as we had only just the week before paid out a lot of money for the MOT, and now our car was unusable, but we cannot thank the police enough for all they did."

Inspector Roland Giles of the Abergavenny Police, said, "This type of crime is very unusual, and we want people to be aware of instances like this. We are fingerprinting, looking for witnesses, looking at CCTV and doing police patrols to see if we can find out more about this incredibly blatant crime.

"We are also speaking to scrap metal dealers in the area to see if they have been sold any of the parts that were stolen from the car."

Mr Powell has since been informed of similar incidents elsewhere in South Wales, including Penarth near Cardiff, where car parts have been stolen to refurbish cars.

The headlights were recovered later in the day in Waitrose car park, where Mr Powell believes a pick up was intended to happen, and police are looking into the CCTV at Waitrose, and fingerprinting the headlights, but Inspector Giles has advised that others take extra care when parking their vehicles and to stay alert to suspicious activity around car parks.

Inspector Giles added, "The difficult part is that a crime like this can be initially difficult to identify, as the victim had no idea it was happening, and was only away from his vehicle for approximately an hour.

"If anyone has information on this, or saw anything on that day, we urge them to come forward to us. We also urge people to be aware of where they park their vehicles, and make sure they are well visible to avoid instances of this happening again."

Mr Powell is now urging the authorities to think of putting lights and cameras in Byefield Car Park in the hope of preventing further incidents like the one that happened to him.

Mr Powell said, "It is a car park surrounded by trees and bushes, so it seems to be that it would be sensible to put CCTV there, to deter criminals from opportunist crimes like these.

"We are thankful that our insurance has covered this cruel attack on our vehicle, and it is being written off, as it would have cost over £2,500 to repair all of the damage, but someone else may not be so lucky.

"I hope that measures are put in place to stop this happening in future, and urge people to be aware when parking their cars."

If you have any information on this incident, call 101 quoting reference 139 24/3/14