Con artists posing as police vehicle recovery drivers have prompted a warning – from genuine officers.
Beds Police are urging motorists to be on their guard following an incident on the evening of Monday, January 25, when two men tried to load a vehicle onto a recovery truck in Sainsbury's car park in Luton Road, Dunstable.
The pair attempted to trick the owner into believing his car had been broken into and police had contacted them to remove the vehicle.
But the intended victim noticed the driver's window had been smashed and he questioned the men further.
They insisted the police had attended but had now left. He was asked if he wanted them to continue the recovery of the vehicle and hand over his car keys.
The car owner refused and the conmen left in a white recovery truck onto Luton Road.
Both were white, in their mid 20s, about 5ft 7ins tall, slim and wore long-sleeved lightweight tops.
PC Jenny Buckley is keen to speak to anyone who may have seen what happened or has been approached in a similar way but not reported it to police.
She said: "These men were very confident and intimidating. The truck they were driving had no signage and the men had no identification. Police will always contact the owner of a vehicle involved in an incident.
"If a vehicle recovery has been arranged, an officer will wait with the vehicle until the recovery unit or owner attends the scene.
"We don't arrange for vehicles to be recovered just because of minor damage. Arrangement for vehicle recovery will only be made when we need to clear a road after a collision, if it's causing a dangerous obstruction or it has been stolen and found to have no insurance."
www.bedfordshire.police.ukwww.crimestoppers-uk.org