CONCERNED son Stephen Webb was amazed to discover where his mother's stolen car had been found - in the centre of Swindon, his home town, 100 miles from where his mum lives.

Pat Webb's Rover Metro was taken from a car park close to the offices of Stafford Borough Council, in the Midlands, where she works as a receptionist.

She immediately reported the theft to the police but had little hope of seeing the car again.

So the 63-year-old grandmother was overjoyed when police called four days later to say the vehicle had been found abandoned in Tydeman Street, Swindon.

The distance the thief had taken the car was not in itself unusual. But the coincidence of where it ended up surprised both mother and son.

"Why anyone would want to steal a G-reg Metro in the first place is beyond me," said Stephen, 44, the chief sub-editor at the Evening Advertiser.

"But, having taken it, driving it all the way from Stafford to Swindon is even more bizarre, to say nothing of the coincidence of it being taken from close to the building where my mum works and ending up a couple of miles from where I work 100 miles away.

"The police joked mum and me had worked out an insurance scam."

Apart from some minor damage the car will be roadworthy again after repairs have been carried out.

"Mum was a little shaken up when she discovered the car had gone but was relieved when it had been found," said Stephen.

"But when I last spoke to her she seemed more concerned about a Mickey Mouse toy on the back shelf.

"Hopefully they will be reunited when the insurance details are sorted out."