Ford Escort classic stripped of parts in Essex car park

The Ford Escort RS Turbo - which had extensive custom work done and was considered a high-value one-of-a-kind car - was reported stolen from the Grays area on Sunday.

How the classic car looked before it was stolen (Image: Essex Police)

The classic car was then discovered in a residential car park three days after it was stolen, stripped of its parts.

Communities have now been urged to report out of place vehicles, after residents told police they had recognised the vehicle did not belong to their neighbours and suspicious behaviour around the car was seen.

How it looked before it was stolen (Image: Essex Police)

Further reading:

• PHOTOS: High-value cars worth more than £400k seized during raid in south Essex
• Stolen luxury car worth up to £100k seized by police from south Essex garage

Acting Police Sergeant Priest, from Essex Police's community policing team in the area, commented: "Vehicle crime in Thurrock remains one of our highest priorities for the community policing team. 

Inside the car after it was stripped (Image: Essex Police)

"Operation Sculptor was created due to the increase of vehicle crime within Thurrock, we are tackling this with increased patrols using both covert vehicles and marked police vehicles, as well as a host of other tactics.

"Hopefully, over the past few months the community would of seen the increase of recoveries and arrests relating to vehicle crime on our social media pages.

The car was found stripped of its parts (Image: Essex Police)

"We are continuing to increase our patrols and develop further intelligence around these offenders to bring those to justice!

"We rely on information from our communities to help us tackle issues like this, so we hope that local residents consider contacting us if or when they see anything out of place or suspicious."

How the car was found (Image: Essex Police)