A furious car owner refused to sit back and do nothing after he was tricked into letting an alleged con man drive off with his Range Rover Sport.

The owner, who lives near Sudbury but asked not to be identified, turned detective to track down a man calling himself Rhys McCarthy from Hadleigh and with the help of car group members tracked him down to a Morrisons car park, where the alleged thief was arrested by police and the Range Rover recovered.

To rub salt into his wounds the owner was subject to a hard stop by police the following day as they thought he was driving a stolen vehicle.

The owner has now issued a warning to car sellers in the Hadleigh area after revealing details of how he was caught out.

It all started when he agree to meet McCarthy at a takeaway car park in Sudbury and the potential buyer put his bike in the back and the pair went for a test drive.

A deal was struck for the Range Rover Sport and a bank transfer was agreed. McCarthy showed the owner a screen shot that the money had been transferred. Even though the money was not in the owner account he believed it would follow and allowed McCarthy to drive off in his car, which was filmed.

When the money still had not landed the following the owner became worried and contacted McCarthy who responded assuring him there was no problem. By then he was deeply suspicious, contacted the bank and learned there were no funds.

He contacted police who put the car details into their Automatic Number Plate Recognition system.

The owner then went back to Sudbury and spoke to some members of a car group who knew the alleged offender and agreed to help track him down.

They went to Hadleigh where McCarthy was spotted in the High Street driving the Range Rover and the police were called. McCarthy was followed to Morrison's car park in Hadleigh where was apprehended.

The owner told Nub News: "I felt a bit foolish because I should have realised something was not right. Him turning up on bike, the money not going in straight away and also because he did not even question the price or haggle at all.

"I have learned valuable lesson, don't let your car out of your sight unless the money is safely in you bank.

"I have to say a huge thanks to the guys from the car group, who I had never met before, for helping me track this person down. They knew him, and what he was like, and it was amazing to get the Range Rover back."

The following day when the owner was driving along the A12 to give a statement at an Ipswich police station, with his girlfriend and mother in the car, he was surrounded by police cars and stopped as the vehicle was still registered as stolen.

"I could not believe it, and even though we knew I had not done anything wrong it was still pretty nerve-wracking," said the owner. "It was sorted out very quickly and I have now given police everything I have regarding the 'sale'."

A spokesman from Suffolk Police confirmed a 23 year old man was arrested on Friday, October 23 on suspicion of fraud by false representation at Hadleigh and is still be being investigated at their Martlesham Heath centre.