A mum has solved the mystery after a car appeared on her driveway, where it was left for almost a week.
Debbie Flynn was furious when the silver Vauxhall Mokka first appeared next to her garage last Tuesday.
She was confused as to how or why the bold motorist had unlocked the gates to her driveway in Sheldon, Birmingham, and parked up.
Debbie said it was "a complete mystery" as if the car "had just dropped out of the sky".
The mum -of-two, who lives next to Birmingham International Airport, suspected that fraudsters had sold her drive as a cheap parking spot for holidaymakers.
Her confusion continued when cops confirmed that the car was not stolen while her landlord said he knew nothing about it, reports Birmingham Live.
She said: "The cheeky gits opened my gate and parked it and shut the gates after leaving it on the grass.
"The police officer who came to see us said he had never seen anything like this in all his years."
Debbie said: "My first thought when it happened was that it was my landlord. I did send him a text that wasn’t very polite but when the landlord made contact, he reassured me it wasn’t his car."
But the mystery was solved when her landlord later followed up with an email.
He revealed that he had forgotten he had registered the driveway via a parking app years ago.
She added: "One of the first things I did when I found the car was to ask the landlord if he knew anything about it and he said he didn't.
"The landlord has since been in touch and said that years ago he opened a parking app for his drive.
"He has just checked his emails and a female driver has emailed him saying she has parked on his drive, gone on holiday and will be back next week. I can’t believe it."
Debbie and her partner Leon had originally put chains around the car's wheels so the returning motorist would have to give an explanation for parking there.
But that has all changed now they have got the bottom of the landlord's lapse in memory.
Parking apps, where residents rent spaces on their property, have become a popular way to earn extra money - especially for those living near airports, train stations and city centre sites.
But they have also become targeted by fraudsters who get money off unsuspecting motorists to park on land they don't own.
Police when powerless to move the Vauxhall Mokka from the grass verge of their drive as it was a "civil and not criminal matter".
If Debbie had affected the car while trying to move it, she would be liable for an offence of criminal damage under the current law.
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