'Drink driver' suspected of stealing funeral car in Swindon

The black Volvo Estate was being loaded with tools with the boot open in Hillier Funeral Service’s enclosed front yard on the Broadway, Whitworth Road. 

The car, which was not a hearse, had the key in and the engine running while the ‘final bits’ were fetched. 

A passing man then ‘jumped in the car’ and drove off with the boot still open, spreading the contents out onto the street.

A Hillier Funeral Service spokesperson said: “It was really distressing because the car is quite distinctive and he was driving around Swindon quite erratically.

“So people thought it was one of our drivers in the car. We had a lot of phone calls and messages saying ‘we are shocked to see your member of staff driving like that’."

They had to explain to people that the car was stolen, but they felt it had left reputational damage.

A suspect in his 50s was later arrested in the West Swindon Aldi car park at 1.30pm half an hour after the car was stolen.

Wiltshire Police's Roads Policing Unit tweeted about the incident.

They said: "We responded to a vehicle stolen from a funeral director.

"The vehicle passed us where the driver was seen using the phone. After an attempt at making off the driver was arrested."

As well as being arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, he was further arrested on suspicion of driving without insurance and while disqualified, and further arrested again after failing a breath test.

He has been taken into custody for questioning.

But this was not before some damage was done to the car boot, thought to have happened as the thief left the premises.

The damage is estimated to come to £200 to £300.

The funeral service spokesperson said that the 100-year-old business has never had a car stolen before.