A Quedgeley man is counting the cost of leaving his car to defrost after a thief coolly breezed in and made off with his satellite navigation system.
The incident happened in Kestrel Gardens at about 10.10am yesterday after the victim, a 27-year-old man, had left the engine of his Volkswagen Golf running while it was on his driveway.
An unknown offender entered the vehicle through the unlocked driver's door and grabbed a TomTom satellite navigation system worth around £150 and £6 in cash.
Local police are appealing for anyone with information about the theft to ring 101, quoting incident 119 of January 16.
They are also urging motorists to beware this type of incident.
Quedgeley PC Lucy Kay said: "It happens a few times every year and our advice is simply not to take the risk.
"A couple of weeks ago when I was on patrol I saw a car with nobody nearby and the engine running and took the keys out myself.
"When the owner appeared seven minutes later I gave him the keys back and explained that he was lucky I was a police officer and not a thief. If the car had been stolen the offender could have been on the motorway by the time the owner realised!"
