A driver in normally-quiet midlands town Derby became the victim of an unprecedented auto-crime when she returned to her car to find old, bald tyres where her relatively fresh rubber had previously been.

Michelle Ulyatt – an employee of the Babington Business College – left her car outside the Labour social club on Charnwood Street at 12:45, returning at 17:15. As she drove away, it became apparent that things were not as she’d left them: “It was only when I was driving that I realised something was wrong, as I had problems with my steering,” said the stunned Ulyatt. “Because I had the car in the garage a few weeks ago to have the steering arm corrected, I thought it was going on the blink again. But my husband then said that my front tyres were bald and that’s when I realised what had caused the problems… The tyres were brand new in February and, at first, I did wonder if they were faulty but then I realised they were another make.”

Police investigating the crime reassured understandably fearful citizens that “there is not a spate of crimes of this nature.” However T&A predicts it can only be a matter of time before the Rubber Ripper graduates from the unfortunate Ulyatt’s L-Reg Ford Escort to greater wheel-changing challenges.