A retired Police Superintendent has warned drivers after his BMW was stolen from his home as his six-year-old daughter watched from the window.

John Powell, now chairman of the Petts Wood and District Residents Association, was in America when he was phoned at 4am to say his car was taken in broad daylight.

Mr Powell warned residents in Petts Wood that thieves were targeting BMWs in Bromley by detecting the signal from the car key.

He told News Shopper: “These cars are incredibly vulnerable to these professional criminals and my six-year-old on this occasion watched the whole thing. It took a matter of seconds.

“We had hidden the key to the car in the house while I was away, but apparently these keys project a signal for up to 50 metres and this can be captured by criminals who clone the key and simply get into your car and drive it away.

"I would urge car owners to review the security on their vehicles - crook locks are a good visible deterrent, or any of the immobiliser devices available on the market."

Mr Powerll’s young daughter, Jasmine, was praised by Police for giving a description of the suspect and for not challenging him.

She later said: “I didn’t want the man to take me away, so I didn’t go outside.”