IT WAS bad enough when teen thieves stole Frances Fairclough's car from outside her home.

But she was astonished later to find police had let off the thieves with a caution - but she still had to pay £105 to reclaim her vehicle.

Frances, of Lee Street, Burnley, rang Wards of Burnley garage, in Rosegrove, where her car had been sent by the police for forensic work, and was told she owed a £105 standard fee which she should claim on her insurance.

She was also informed by the police that the two youths who stole her car had been let off with a caution because it was their first offence, leaving her with potential repair costs on top of the garage fee.

Her car was found in Dalton Street with damage to the locks, steering and ignition.

She said: "I was quite willing to help the police and told them to do as was necessary in order to ensure a conviction.

"I left the police station feeling quite pleased that justice would be done. I was disgusted when I found out that they were not going to pay for the crime of stealing my car.

"Not only were they not going to pay through the legal system but I would not be able to claim from them the cost of the damage that they had done to my car.

"When I spoke to the man at the garage it was then mentioned that I would need to pay a fee in order to take my car away. "You can imagine my shock at this, not just the amount but because this was the first time this fee had been mentioned.

"If I claim through my insurance I have been told my insurance premiums will more than double next year.

"I cannot afford for my premiums to rise - I am about to start a four year higher education course and have to travel to Lancaster.

"I have always worked since leaving college and have worked hard in order to learn to drive and to buy and run a car and then I have to pay when somebody steals my car while they walk away with little more than a slap on the wrist.

"I have made a formal complaint to the police."

Inspector Michael White, of Burnley Police, said: "We are looking at certain individual cases favourably and will be in contact with Mrs Fairclough. Each different case has to be examined separately and we have to decide whether the insurers should deal with it or us.

"We don't have a budget for this kind of thing in the police and if a car is towed away it is usually the responsibility of the car owner to pay."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.