A BOGUS car buyer raced off in a woman’s Mercedes , driving through the middle of Wickfordwith the bonnet up.

The reckless carjacker tore along Station Avenue, narrowly missing pedestrians, after stealing the woman seller’s blackMercedes CLK80.

The 45-year-old victim, who lives in Wickford, but asked not to be named, had agreed to meet the man with her son, after the thief answered an advert on a car-buying website.

Police recovered the car outsideahouse in Barking the following morning, after the car’s electronic tracker device was activated. So far, no arrests have been made.

The victim said: “When he met us, he just seemed so unassuming.

“Wehadnoideawhat hewas planning to do.

“The police have found my car, but it has cost me a lot of money to recover.

“It’s upsetting. I feel like I don’t even want to sit in the car now.”

The car was stolen at about 3.30pm on Thursday, from Station Avenue,Wickford.

The owner said: “I was advertising it on Autotrader, Gumtree and Ebay and I got a call from a man saying he wanted to view it.

“He said he would be travelling by train, so I suggested meeting at Wickford train station.

“I took my son with me, so I was not meeting him alone.

“He was very unassuming and just kept saying to us he was buying it for his girlfriend.”

The thief opened the Mercedes bonnet and looked at the engine, then got in the car and pretended to look in the glove box and inspect the leather interior.

Thewomansaid: “Suddenly, he locked the doors and raced off towards Jersey Gardens with the bonnet up. There is no way he could see where he was going.

“My son tried to run after him, but he was driving so fast.

“He drove into Jersey Gardens, where he must have closed the bonnet, because he drove pastmeagain asIwason the phone to the police.”

The thief was bespectacled, white, aged between 50 and 55, and dressed in a black mac, and had brown hair long enough to cover his ears.

He walked with a limp, but police say this may have been put on.

Police are still carrying out a forensic examination of the car.

Detectives have appealed for anyone with any information about the incident to call them on 101, to call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111 or give information via crime stoppers-uk.org