Thieves in daring raid on top luxury car factory

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Thieves have stolen part of a production line at a factory which makes some of the world's most expensive cars, police said today.

Ten presses worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were removed from Bristol Cars' plant, in Filton, Bristol, during a raid over the weekend.

The gang are thought to have used a crane and at least two lorries to dismantle the heavy-duty machinery from the site.

The alloy presses are used to manufacture the roof, wing and door panels of the company's Blenheim range, which costs £150,000 for the basic model.

Bristol Cars, which only produces two or three cars a week, warned the raid could hit production.

The presses, which are thought to be tailor-made for the car model, may be destined for China or India, where they will be melted down as scrap.

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Target: The Bristol Cars' Factory

The company, which sells its luxury cars direct to customers, refused to go into detail about the theft but said the gang had used an angle grinder to cut through the locks of the main gate.

Once inside they could work undisturbed using a crane to lift the presses onto lorries.

A spokesman for the firm told the Bristol Evening Post: "We had a number of roof, wing and door panels in stock to keep production going at the present time, but eventually we are going to run out of parts.

"Getting replacement presses cannot be done overnight and it is likely to cause us problems."

The theft will not affect the production of the firm's £230,000 Fighter range, or order-only Blenheim Speedster.

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: "Anyone who has been offered large amounts of metal alloy for sale in suspicious circumstances is being urged to call police.

"It follows the theft of several tonnes of alloy part presses from a manufacturing company on an industrial estate in Patchway sometime over the weekend.

"Police believe the metal may be sold for scrap and are appealing for anyone who has been offered such items for sale to call Filton Police Station on 0845 4567000."