A shopper returned to his car to find a criminal had stolen his number plates and replaced them with new ones.

At some point between 7.15pm and 7.20pm on Tuesday evening (November 28) someone removed both number plates from a blue Volkswagen Golf parked at the Sainsbury Supermarket in Northwestern Avenue, Watford, before replacing them with another.

The victim then got back to the vehicle only to see it had different plates to when he left it, before the suspect reportedly drove off in an unknown direction with his Volkswagen’s original plates.

After the offence was reported to Herts Police, the force is treating it as a theft from a vehicle and the investigation is ongoing.

Appealing for information, police urged anyone with information or who may have captured any relevant footage in the area at the time to call police on 101 quoting crime reference number 41/95345/23.

Information can also be reported anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.