THIEVES stole a £35,000 Mercedes Benz eight hours after the owner's wife fought off two masked raiders who tried to hijack the vehicle.

And attempts to secure the card behind two other cars in the driveway of the owner's Park Road home in Prestwich later that day failed to deter the thieves.

The owner, who does not want to be named, told how he and his wife watched from their bedroom window as the thieves returned in the early hours of Wednesday (Jan 9) to steal the vehicle.

He said: "Everything started when my wife went to her nieces in Scholes Lane at 8.40pm on Tuesday. As she was getting out of the Merc she was approached by two masked men who knocked her to the floor and tried to grab the car keys from her hand.

"She put up a struggle and a gentleman walking up the road disturbed the attackers. hey managed to get away with the master key to the car."

That night the Mercedes was parked close to the garage, with the owner putting two cars belonging to his sons behind it.

Shortly before 10pm a man was seen walking up the driveway and then turned round and walked off. The owner and his son followed the man for a short time but lost sight of him when he entered Heaton Park.

The owner continued: "At 4.45am my wife heard a noise. We looked out of the window. The thieves had smashed the windows of the cars parked behind the Mercedes and had moved them away.

"It only took a matter of seconds and they drove the Mercedes away."

He added that he is certain the thieves followed the Mercedes when it was driven from Scholes Street to Park Road.

"These offenders went to great lengths to steal my car and I must warn other owners of high class and top-of-the-range cars to be on the alert against thieves."

Whitefield police are investigating the theft of the car and are appealing for anyone who saw either the initial hijacking attempt or the later theft to contact them on 856 8248.