06 February 2023 , 11:48
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More than 80 holidaymakers have claimed their cars were stolen after being left with a Heathrow airport valet parking firm.
Travellers have been handing over their keys and £145 to Terminal Universal at the London airport before jetting off.
But they have apparently been returning to find no one waiting with their cars, no keys, and the firm failing to answer their calls.
Detectives are investigating the string of stolen vehicle reports and are attempting to find where the cars are currently located.
Offices say they have recovered around 70 cars so far, although not all of these have been returned to their owners while the case is ongoing.
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The cars were nowhere to be found (file photo) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Alexandra Kovacs and her husband were one of those who returned home in January to find their vehicle had vanished.
The couple, from King's Lynn in Norfolk, flew from Heathrow to Brazil in December.
But after a month abroad, they ended up waiting five hours and frantically calling the company after discovering other terrible online reviews before checking in to a hotel.
Their car was eventually found abandoned in a field in Surrey.
Another holidaymaker, 39-year-old Joanne Greedy from Cardiff, said she had to fork out for an alternative mode of transport.
She told the Sun: "There was nothing we could do, so in the end we paid £100 for a train home."
A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed a 25-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of theft and released under investigation pending further enquiries.
He added: "Detectives based at Heathrow Airport are investigating a number of reports of stolen vehicle linked to a meet and greet parking service which operated from the airport.
"Over the last month, police have received around 80 separate reports of vehicles, which had been left in the care of the meet and greet company but had not been returned.
"Around 70 of these vehicles have been recovered and work is under way to return them to their owners.
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"Enquiries into the circumstances continue, including to locate any remaining vehicles."