Audi driver 'shocked' after £40k car looted and left on bricks in 'secure' Birmingham car park

An Audi driver has spoken of the "shocking" moment he returned to a secure Birmingham car park to find his £40,000 car on bricks and completely looted.

James, 57, was in the city visiting friends when he returned to the National Car Parks (NCP) multi-storey on Newhall Street to find his A4 saloon with its windows smashed, console sawn off and steering wheel stolen.

Food industry worker James, who did not want to provide his full name, told BirminghamLive he was "angry and shocked" to find his 22-plate motor stripped in the Jewellery Quarter car park.

READ MORE: Bungling drug dealer found hiding in play house with drugs and weapon stash

NCP told BirminghamLive in a lengthy statement they were "very sorry." West Midlands Police confirmed they are investigating.

James parked his car at 7pm on Tuesday, June 4 after visiting pals but when he went to retrieve his car at 8am the next day, it was ransacked.

James explained: "I was a bit shocked when I opened the door and there was no steering wheel. They put a brick through the window, climbed in opened the boot got the tools out the boot which they also stole.

"They took the steering wheel off and the central console off with a saw." He contacted police and said he was unable to find any NCP staff to help, claiming he was instead connected to a call centre abroad.

James shared pictures of the car park's secure entrance appearing to be broken, meaning it was accessible without a QR code. He said: "I called the police I looked around the car. They gave me an incident number and said to get my insurer to get the vehicle. This is a £40,000 car, surely somebody will come out and dust it for prints.

"At that point, I wasn't able to get angry I was shocked. Thank God I didn't turn up when they were taking the wheels off it is not a one-man job."

He added that kind strangers bought him tea and stayed with him: "The amount of people who stopped and said to me they were so sorry it happened in Birmingham. It is supposed to be 24 hours. One of the entrances that usually needs a QR code has been busted up.

"Whoever has done it has done it to order. NCP waived my parking charges and said they escalated it to the incident team. If it had not been for my insurance company I would have been crying in the corner."

Incredibly, James said: "It's not all bad in Birmingham."

Police 'fully understand frustration'

A West Midlands Police spokesperson told BirminghamLive: "We were alerted to the theft of parts from an Audi parked on a car park in Newhall Street which happened sometime overnight of Tuesday, June 4 into June 5.

"We have requested CCTV from the car park in an effort to identify the offenders. We fully understand the upset, frustration and impact this type of crime has on victims.

"We're working hard to combat car crime and this includes regular warrants on suspected chop shops, which is often where parts end up. If anyone has information about the theft from this Audi, please get in touch via Live Chat on our website quoting crime reference 20/559274/24. Or call Crimstoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."

NCP 'very sorry'

An NCP spokesperson said: "We take all crime in our car parks very seriously and work hard to try to stop people entering our car parks for reasons other than parking.

"We are very sorry that this incident occurred whilst the customer was parked on our car park. Unfortunately, crime is an issue that we, and all businesses that have buildings open to the public, are trying to prevent.

"We do try to keep our car parks as secure as possible, but when our security doors are vandalised then we have to go through the processes of repairing, only for them to be vandalised again.

"We are aware that we are not alone in these concerns, we have met with West Midlands Police, Birmingham Council, the local BID organisations & the Outreach Team regarding anti-social behaviour and vehicle crime on Birmingham car parks.

"We have also had a meeting with BID Manager for the Colmore BID regarding the same issues. On 05 June 2024, we had a meeting with Birmingham City Centre LCSP Group which involved West Midlands Police, Birmingham Council & the BID groups. At this meeting vehicle crime and anti-social behaviour issues were discussed.

"In the next two weeks, we have more meetings booked with the BID groups and with West Midlands Police. We cannot always say we will be able to stop people walking or driving onto our sites with intentions to commit crime, our patrol staff are limited in how much they can apprehend criminals as they are car park operators.

"We have recruited extra staff for our Birmingham sites and have made sure they are covering important shift times to discourage this type of crime and will continue to do all we can from our side to stop this type of crime, alongside the meetings with the relevant people who can help reduce crime in this community."

Get more breaking news by joining our BirminghamLive WhatsApp community