A woman who found a false registration plate on her parked Mercedes feared her car was about to be stolen.
Charlotte Grundy returned to her car in Hale village, south Manchester, to grab her sunglasses when she noticed the colour of her number plate appeared to be different.
Charlotte then realised that someone had put a false registration plate on her car.
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The incident happened on Saturday afternoon in Hale, an affluent village near Altrincham popular with Premier League footballers.
She told the Manchester Evening News that she fears her car was about to be stolen.
She said: "Everyone is saying it was being prepped to be stolen."
She fears that someone may have been plotting to break into her flat to get the key for her car -but that they got 'disturbed'.
She said: "We just don't know, it's quite scary."
Charlotte said the fake plate was not registered with the DVLA - so it wouldn't come up on any ANPR cameras.
Locals who belong to Hale and Altrincham General Facebook group posted comments suggesting the film posted on the registration plate was designed to be reflective so ANPR cameras would not pick it up.
Charlotte told the MEN that her car was was stolen in 2019 while she was on holiday.
She said other crimes have been committed in the area recently - including an armed robbery in broad daylight. She added: "It's supposed to be a nice area."
Charlotte said that that after the recent incident she had now decided to start parking her car on a friend's driveway. She has also had a tracker fitted to her car.
She sadded: "When I had my car stolen ( in 2019) it was a massive inconvenience. I can't be dealing with that again."
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