A MARSTON couple had their car stolen today, after leaving it unattended for two minutes to de-ice.

Jim Devine walked back into his house after turning the ignition on to de-ice his Ford Galaxy only to emerge a couple of minutes later to find it had been stolen.

His wife Nicky, a science technician at The Cherwell School, said the pair were shocked and upset.

The 54-year-old said: “It’s astounding, I have lived in Marston all my life and I’ve never known anything like this.

“Jim literally walked into the house to get his tablets and when he walked back out a few minutes later the car was gone.

“There are so many people who do the same thing, especially this time of year, and you just don’t think that could happen – we want to warn others.

“The police think it might be organised crime as Jim saw a white van going past around the same time.”

The grandmother-of-three added: “There were personal items in the car too, there was a picture of my granddaughter – I can’t believe it.”

Thames Valley Police confirmed it was investigating the incident and issued a warning to motorists de-icing their vehicles.

Spokesman Gareth Ford-Lloyd said: “It can be very distressing for a vehicle to be stolen so we would advise motorists to take as many precautions as they can. We would strongly advise motorists de-icing their vehicles not to leave their vehicles unattended with the keys in the ignition.”