THIEVES have attempted to steal a catalytic converter from a woman’s car two nights in a row.

Tracey Jayne Dunne, of Portland Avenue, Dovercourt, said two crooks tried to take the catalytic converter from her 20-year-old Astra at 3am on Thursday.

Following their unsuccessful mission, Miss Dunne said they returned at 4am on Friday...this time with an angle grinder and drill.

The 57-year-old said: “The two scumbags must have realised they cannot remove the converter, so they wanted to remove the exhaust instead.

“My neighbour heard them using the drill, so he shouted at them and they ran away.

“What is worse is they came back about 20 minutes later and continued their quest.

“As my neighbour is a postman and was up early, he heard them again and threatened toa call the police, which scared them away for good.

“Probably they wanted the exhaust because they can fetch a lot of money for scrap.”

Miss Dunne, who works as a dog groomer, said she was scared anything would happen to the car as she needs it for her job.

She added: “Even if it’s an old car, I love it and I use it to pick up the dogs. It’s a big part of my business.

“I work for a living. I would never dream of taking anybody’s property. It is not fair, it’s actually terrible.

“My mechanic said they caused damage with the drill and it’s going to cost me £185.”

She added: “We don’t get many crimes down this road, so I was shocked they came back the second night as well.

“On Saturday night I went to sit outside for almost two hours from 2.30am just to make sure they don’t come back.”

Miss Dunne wants to install CCTV cameras to make sure she will be able to identify the thieves if they return.

Anyone with information should call Essex Police on 101 quoting the crime reference number 42/102490/20.