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Range Rover owners forced to take drastic steps to protect their vehicles after string of thefts by Russian gangs
The gangs have been stealing supercars to send home to Russia
RANGE Rover owners are installing automatic bollards on their driveways after a string of thefts by Russian gangs.
Drivers are buying the metal poles which pop-up around the £80,000 cars, in a bid to make them impossible to steal.
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It comes after a surge in luxury car thefts, with more than 5,000 Range Rovers stolen in 2022/23 - with London the most affected area.
The number of stolen models detected in 2023 declined by half.
One owner in the north of the capital said: “The bollards are all anyone talks about.
“There are companies being set up just for bollard installation on driveways, because so many Range Rovers are being taken while they should be safe and parked at home.
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“It’s an extreme measure but necessary because of how sought after they are.”
Range Rover makers JLR said just 0.3 per cent of new models, including the flash Sports model, have been taken since the start of 2022.
On Tuesday we told how Russian gangs have been stealing supercars to send home.
Among them are a 217.5mph £380,000 Lamborghini Aventador S and a £348,000 Rolls-Royce Dawn.
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Stuart Masson, of The Car Expert, said: “There’s always been demand for luxury stolen cars in Russia, but this increased after the Ukraine invasion and Western sanctions.
“Unsurprisingly, there is little co-operation from Russian authorities in investigating these crimes or trying to deter them from happening.”
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