Police in Yorkshire have shared a photo of a stolen car ‘graveyard’ with numerous burnt out vehicles.
Officers from South Yorkshire’s off-road bike team made the somewhat eerie discovery while out in Gleadless Valley, Sheffield, this week.
The collection of vehicles had been nicked, dumped and then set alight by the thieves, before being blanketed in snow during the recent spell of wintery bad weather.
Posting the photo on Twitter, SYP Operations Support wrote: “Off Road Bike Team came across a graveyard of cars… local scrap yard?
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"No. Buck Wood, Sheffield Gleadless Valley. What a waste. These cars had been stolen, dumped and set fire to in this ancient woodland.”
Earlier this year, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency revealed the 10 ten most stolen car models in the UK.
DVLA data showed that last year a whopping 48,500 vehicles were recorded by police as stolen, up from about 46,800 the year before.
Clive Wain, head of police liaison for the app Tracker, said a rise in thefts in 2021 is likely Covid related.
He explained: "Due to the pandemic, global demand for car parts created a boom in ‘chop-shops’ – buildings which house stolen vehicles for stripping down so their expensive parts can be sold on."
Some were also being taken to the woods in Sheffield and burnt out, too, by the looks of it.
The data also revealed the top 10 most stolen car models, which kicks off with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class in tenth place, with 818 being reported stolen in 2021.
Following in ninth place is the Vauxhall Astra, with 1,096 being swiped; the Vauxhall Corsa came next with 1,218 reported stolen.
The seventh most stolen car was the Land Rover Discovery, with thieves making off with 1,260 in 2021; in sixth place was the BMW 3 Series, of which 1,464 were reported stolen.
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class was in fifth piston with 1,474 stolen, followed by the VW Golf with 1,755.
Heading into the top three - the Ford Focus was third with 1,912 models reported stolen, followed by Land Rover Range Rover in second place with 3,754 and finally in first place was the Ford Fiesta with a huge 3,909 thefts.
John Wilmot, chief executive of LeaseLoco which obtained the date, said: “The Ford Fiesta may have lost its crown as the best-selling new car in the UK but it still retains the unenviable title as being the most stolen car in Britain."
Claire Reid