A MOTHER has been left heartbroken after her car was stolen from outside her home.

Sonia Mason, of Daintry Close, Kenton, returned home on Monday last week to find her car had been towed away by three men posing as council officials.

Her neighbour, Talat Cockar, also had his car stolen.

Other neighbours said three men, driving a white tow truck marked "24 Hour Recovery", had knocked on doors asking if anyone wanted to sell their cars, before towing the two away.

Harrow police said this was not a one-off incident. Thieves posing as officials was becoming common in the borough.

Sonia was redecorating her home had had stored a crate of family pictures in her dark brown Peugeot 406, which was declared off-road and had a flat tyre.

"I had been doing a clear-out and had all the baby pictures in the car, but now everything has gone.

"Our whole family history has been erased.

"When I saw my car had gone, I went next door to ask if they had seen something, only then did they realise their car was gone too."

Talat had been looking after his brother's car while he was overseas.

The father-of-three said: "I was very angry.

"My two sons loved that car and they were looking forward to fixing it and planned to drive it.

"There is a lot of motor crime around here. My van was always being broken into."

A police spokesman said: "This is one of a number of incidents where the owners of what tend to be relatively low value vehicles, often those which have been abandoned or not roadworthy, have had them towed away by people using low loader or tow trucks.

"They sometimes claim to be from the local authority or council."

Anyone who sees low-loaders or tow trucks that clearly are not working for the council should note the registration number and call 999.