Handbag and keys taken as family slept

The car used to ram-raid a Broughty Ferry supermarket was stolen from a Carnoustie house while its owner and her two young daughters slept upstairs.

The brazen thief sneaked into the Silport Place house in the middle of the night while Nicola Cameron, 38, and her daughters Mia, 10 and Zoe, eight, were asleep upstairs.

Nicola’s husband Ross thinks he may have been awake when the raider entered the house but did not hear anything as he was wearing headphones at the time.

The thief stole Nicola’s handbag, containing a number of bank cards, and lifted the keys for her black BMW.

They then drove the car to Broughty Ferry where it was used to break in to the Co-op store at Panmurefield.

Nicola said she only discovered the break-in when she realised her £15,000 car was not in the driveway.

She and Ross had to get their daughters ready for school while coming to terms with the fact an intruder had broken into their home while the family was at home.

She said: “I got up this morning to get ready as usual.

“There was nothing obviously wrong, I just couldn’t find my handbag which is not unusual.

“When I went into the living room I saw the car wasn’t there.

“I was a bit confused at first, I thought the car had maybe rolled down the drive.

“It is scary. I’m trying not to think about it.”

Nicola said her handbag had only contained bank cards, which have now all been cancelled.

Ross added: “Whoever it was would have seen the keys hanging.

“The police said it must have been someone who knew what they were doing and would not have wanted to hurt anyone.

“We only just found out it was used in the ram-raid.

“We saw the pictures of the raid online and joked that’s what our car had been stolen for.”

Nicola’s car had not yet been recovered but Ross said he expects it will have sustained serious damage after being used to break down the door of the supermarket.

It is believed the car, which bore the registration N111 RBC, was reversed into the shop door.

The Camerons’ house was not the only one targeted on Wednesday night – a handbag was also stolen from a neighbour’s house around the same time.

Louise Chalmers, 54, of nearby Tiger Beach Drive, had her handbag stolen while she watched TV between 9pm and midnight.

She said police believed the thefts were linked.

Anyone with information is asked to call Police Scotland on 101.