Just after 7am on last Friday 16 March an owner watched as her vehicle was stolen from outside a central city pre-school.

The mother had parked her vehicle, left the keys in the ignition, and had gone into the pre-school to drop her child off.

She was inside the premises for about two minutes. She came out to see her car speeding off without her. Her hand bag and other personal items were still in the vehicle.

The car was recovered later the same day after being dumped in town, but there was some damage to the vehicle. The woman's hand bag and contents were gone but offender did leave the child's car seat.

Christchurch Police wish to remind people about security in such circumstances. It only takes a matter of seconds to take the keys out of the ignition, remove valuable items, and lock the car.