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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Tim Hanlon

'Airport parking firm drove Tesla at 110mph on my holiday - one thing gave it away'

A Tesla owner has blasted an “idiot” who reportedly “ran it ragged” doing 109mph after leaving it with an airport parking firm.

Jemma Waterfield, 39, and husband Scott, 41, left the car at Bristol airport while they went on holiday to Rome for her birthday.

But, to their horror, they saw on the car’s app that a worker at the parking company took the Tesla for a spin and was driving at more than 100mph while listening to Beyonce at full volume.

And the car was reportedly not kept securely at the airport but In a lay-by that was eight miles away on the A38.

Then to make matters worse, they also had to recharge their electric car as the battery had been drained.

Jemma left her car at Bristol airport (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)

Now the outraged couple said it was “unbelievable” that the car had been driven at 109mph.

Jemma, from Truro, Cornwall, told The Sun: “Through the Tesla app that comes with the car we tracked this idiot consistently doing 100mph in a 50mph zone. At his most Formula 1 moment, he was clocked doing 109mph. He ran it ragged.

"We even know through the app that he was blasting out Beyonce on the radio. It’s unbelievable — not only as the car belongs to someone else and should be treated with respect but also because it’s highly dangerous.”

The airport parking firm providing a “meet & greet” had reportedly been recommended by Ryanair via Looking4parking.com.

Now Looking4.com, the company behind it, has reportedly said that an investigation is underway and that the service has been suspended while it takes place.

Ryanair said: “It is unacceptable that Car Park Bristol did not provide the promised services booked by this passenger, and we are working with this meet and greet service provider to ensure that this does not recur.”

It comes after a woman has told how an airport parking assistant took her BMW car on a 90mph joyride after she flew to Italy from Bristol airport last month.

Kirsty Livingstone, 43, says her Rome break was ruined when police phoned to say her motor had been pulled over near Langford, in Somerset.

She and her partner then spent most of their holiday, over Easter, dealing with the police and worrying about the car.

The driver was stopped on the A38 after clocking up speeds in excess of 90mph (145km/h) with no licence or insurance, Avon and Somerset Police said.

"I got a phone call from Avon and Somerset Police officer telling me, 'I'm with your BMW'," she said.

"I told him the car was with a short-stay parking service, and he said the driver had stolen my car. I've used these kinds of services loads of times and I never thought this would happen.

"The parking at Bristol Airport is limited, that's why meet and greet companies are so popular."

She spoke to Bristol Airport, but was told it had nothing to do with the meet and greet services operating in its car park.

"It seems bizarre to me that anybody can set up shop at the airport and they don't do any kind of vetting," she said.

Meet and Greet Bristol Airport Parking Services apologised, saying the car was 'taken by a trainee'.

It said Kirsty's car had been collected and taken to one of its sites, and when it was taken, the firm was 'conducting interviews and training sessions for potential staff'.

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