A PORSCHE Cayenne worth £70,000 has been stolen from a Ferndown house and completely destroyed by fire.

As Doug Elliott, his girlfriend and her 13-year-old daughter slept at their home in Golf Links Road in the early hours of Friday morning a burglar sneaked in, found the keys to his luxury car and took it for a spin.

The burnt-out shell of the car was found later in the middle of the King George V Playing Fields and local police are keen to track down the culprits.

Mr Elliott, 58, the director of a corporate entertainment company, said: "To me the car is just a bit of tin, but the thought that someone was in our home while we were sleeping is most disturbing. My girlfriend is traumatised.

"When she came down in the morning there was a piece of wood across the lounge but all the hi-fi equipment was still there and although they'd tampered with the plasma TV it was still on the wall. There was a thumping great tyre mark outside and scrapes across the drive; they'd driven the car right across the middle of the lawn.

"I could understand it more if the car had been stolen for export, they could have got £60,000 for it on the black market.

"It did have a tracker device so police have been able to trace its movements, and that could be why whoever took it set fire to it.

"Security here is really tight, I've been in Ferndown for 25 years and never had anything like this happen.

"The police say it must be a vendetta because we have so much here."

PC Steven Brett of Ferndown Police is advising Dorset residents to make sure that any alarm they have fitted is adjusted to detect movement outside the house, even while the occupants are inside.

Anyone who saw a black Porsche Cayenne between midnight and 6am on Thursday is asked to call Ferndown Police on 01202 855544.

First published: August 30