A HORRIFIED holidaymaker has released video of the moment airport car parking staff took his vehicle for a spin.
Andrejs Sarins left his Ford C-Max at Luton Airport and jetted to Latvia on October 22.
Shortly after returning home the 34-year-old checked his dashcam and discovered that the car had been taken for a joyride on the day he left it.
The warehouse worker from Faringdon, Oxfordshire, claims his car was driven at up to 30mph around the car park and that the wheels can be heard spinning.
Andrejs said today: “I arrived at the car park at 6am, I was greeted by staff and I left my car and keys – I felt I got very good customer service and I was happy.
“On 31st October when I arrived back my was waiting for me parked where I left it, at this point I wasn’t aware of any issues and I left the car park and went home.”
He added: “It wasn’t until 10 days later I was downloading some videos from my dash cam when I discovered the video of my car being driven erratically by a Swift car park worker including wheels spinning and even a near-miss.”
In the clip, his vehicle is taken out of the space it was left in and the driver begins to take it around the car park.
At one point, the car reaches a speed of 30mph as it drifts around other parked cars.
Incredibly, it appears on the clip that other cars were receiving the same treatment by car park workers.
Two other cars, which are being followed by the dashcam vehicle, appear to be driven erratically and one even picks up another worker.
Moments later, that worker gets out of the car and heads to another vehicle.
At a couple of points in the video, the car being driven can be heard braking hard and what appears to be the wheels spinning.
The clip ends with the car continuing to follow other vehicles around the car park.
After viewing the clip online, Steve Humberstone wrote: “THIS is why I always pay for official parking!”
Jordan Handley commented: “What car park do you know that is a 30 mph speed limit?”
Gareth Walden wrote: “I’d be demanding a new set of tyres and possibly a clutch too. Can see the car jolting likes he’s riding the clutch.”
Andrejs, who paid £44 for the parking, has released audio of his complaint call to Swift. The telephone operator tells him: “The guy driving the car is a bit silly, and he shouldn’t be doing that.
“He is driving a bit fast, I’m not going to deny that. We will speak to the driver and address this issue because it shouldn’t be happening.”
During the call, Andrejs is offered a full refund for the cost of his booking and even told his next stay at the car park will be free.
However, the telephone operator denied the claim that there was any wheel spinning despite Andrejs’ strong claims there was.
A spokesman for Swift today confirmed that they had apologised and refunded Andrejs’ money.
But the spokesman strongly denied any suggestion the car had been taken for a joyride.
He said: “The customer is slightly confused. Customers know that when they leave their car keys at the front office drop-off area, we will move it to the car park area at the top until they are ready to get it back. We will then bring it back.
“It is in their booking confirmation as well.”
