Police are hunting for thieves who stole a £25,000 vehicle from a car dealership in an overnight theft.
Staff at Jim Reid Vehicle Sales in Kintore turned up to work yesterday morning and discovered a white Ford Focus RS was missing.
After examining CCTV footage, they realised it had been taken at about 3:40am on Sunday morning and the thief had headed on to the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road.
Police are also keen to trace a van which was seen driving behind the stolen vehicle as it left the premises.
Last night Jim Reid, who owns the family run business, spoke of his shock at the theft.
He said: “We are completely gutted, We are celebrating our fifteenth year on February 1 and we have never had a car stolen until now.
“It is a small family owned business and we are all just a bit gutted.
“It is not just about the money, it’s all aspects of it, it’s going to be a lot of work for us.
“We are hopeful it will be recovered as the police have got some leads.”
Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, branded the theft from a local business “disappointing.”
She said: “I am hopeful officers will be able to find the culprit or culprits involved with this theft.
“It is really disappointing when any crime takes place, particularly from a local business.
“I will be getting in touch with the local policing team to ensure I am kept updated on this incident.”
Police Constable Connor McKeen confirmed police were probing the incident and were looking to speak to the driver of a van in the area at the time.
He said: “We are carrying out inquiries to trace this vehicle and I would ask that anyone who has information or who has seen a vehicle matching the description gets in touch with us on 101.
“In particular we would request that the driver of a van who was in the area and was travelling behind the stolen vehicle as it travelled towards the A96 gets in touch.
“We would also ask that cars who may have dashcam footage and were in the area between 1am and 4am on Sunday contact us.”
