Midland-made motors accounted for 44 per cent of all stolen vehicles recovered in 2021

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Luxury Midland-made 4x4s have been identified as thieves' top targets - with more than a third of recovered cars last year identified as Range Rovers or Land Rovers.

The alert came as three stolen JLR vehicles, worth a total of more than £200,000, were found in a shipping container in Essex amid huge demand for them in Eastern Europe and the far East.

A Range Rover Sport worth just under £100,000 was recovered by a tracker firm at a shipping container depot in Stanford-le-hope.

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The vehicle was recovered in under 17 hours after it was reported stolen from Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire.

Two other Range Rover Sports were also found crammed into the same container.

The news came as figures revealed high-end Land Rovers and Range Rovers accounted for 44 per cent of all stolen vehicles recovered in 2021.

The impact of the pandemic, car parts shortage and availability of both new and used cars, has worsened car thefts, said Clive Wain, head of police liaison for high-end car recovery firm Tracker Network (UK) Ltd.

He said: “These prestige vehicles are being targeted by criminal gangs.

"The impact of covid, car parts shortage and availability of new and used cars has only exacerbated the issue in recent months.

"It is therefore not surprising to see that these cars were found at a shipping container depot, as there is a clear demand for these models in territories like Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia.

"In recent years, Tracker along with the police have intercepted and recovered thousands of vehicles at UK ports destined to be shipped to foreign shores."

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