Sheffield car crime: Motorist devastated as car stolen after coach trip – then surprised when police find it

But he was delighted later when South Yorkshire Police returned to tell him they had found his car and had recovered it. Now the motorist has written to the force to thank PC Andy Hewitt for his work in tracing the stolen vehicle.

The motorist said in a letter to police: “We parked our car in a car park in Sheffield while we went on a coach trip. When we returned we found that our vehicle had been stolen despite security efforts. We immediately reported the matter and didn’t expect to see our vehicle again.

“However we were contacted by yourselves to say our vehicle had been found and recovered for forensic examination. I spoke to Andy and know he showed some good old fashioned techniques, working his beat and taking pride in searching for and recovering stolen vehicles. It is quite clear that Andy is motivated in his role and takes great pride in being proactive against criminals, and I think this should not go unnoticed.”

Last month police targeted Sheffield city centre in a day of action to crack down on vehicle crime following an increase in reports of theft of and theft from vehicles.

Sheffield city centre’s neighbourhood policing team took on a day of action with ‘Operation Steel’, an operation set up to tackle a range of local crime and to provide visible police presence on the streets. The team carried out high-visibility patrols around car parks in Hartshead Square, Wellington Street and the Ponds Forge area on February 15 as they focused on tackling rising reports of vehicle crime.

Sgt Annabelle Hakes, of Sheffield city centre NPT, said at the time: “We know how distressing it can be if your vehicle is stolen, or if it is damaged and items are stolen from it, and we have a range of positive, proactive work taking place across the city centre, which sees us work alongside our proactive teams and partners to carry out engagement and enforcement activity.”