Airport meet and greet denies customer's claim that car was driven 178 miles while he was on holiday

East Midlands Airport has rebutted claims from an irate customer who insists his vehicle clocked up 178 miles while it should have been in long-term parking. Ashley Hopkins, a 74 year old from East Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, entrusted his Toyota C-HR to the meet and greet service of East Midlands Airport on September 9 before flying off on a week in Majorca.

When he returned on September 16 the pensioner spotted a significant rise in his car's mileage and a reduction in fuel. Spurred on his wife, who had seen a programme advising vigilance, Hopkins had noted the mileage before leaving for Spain and discovered an additional 178 miles on his return.

Despite the airport claiming that tracking and CCTV footage confirms the vehicle remained untouched in secure parking, Mr Hopkins remains unconvinced. Expressing his frustration, he said: "I only use it for piddling about and it had almost a full tank when I dropped it off, but when I came back it was at just over half."

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He added: "They say there's no evidence to support what I am saying, but my odometer and fuel tank can't be wrong. It must have been taken off the premises, unless the car was just driven around the car park or the storage area is just miles away."

Mr Hopkins also reported an odd incident with his vehicle post-retrieval from East Midlands Airport (EMA), noting the battery had gone flat and wasn't charging, which was "strange" for the four year old car that previously showed no such issues. He said that after raising concerns to EMA's customer services, he was directed to contact Leicestershire Police for a criminal investigation, despite anticipating they'd deem it a civil issue.

Mr Hopkins said, "They told me to go to the police so they could start a criminal investigation, but they'll just say it's a civil matter. It's about the principle of it all, I want to know why someone has been driving around in my car without my permission.", reports Nottinghamshire Live.

He added, "Had they just said sorry I would have said fine and got on with it. They have just denied it and implied that I am a liar or reading something wrong."

The pensioner said there were unanswered questions regarding the distance of the storage area from the drop-off point and the monitoring of driver's key usage by airport customer services. In response, an East Midlands Airport spokesperson said: "We have looked into the matter raised by Mr Hopkins and can find no evidence to support the suggestion that his car was driven 178 miles while he was away."

"We move hundreds of vehicles around our site every day and have systems that keep track of which vehicles are driven by which drivers, as well as recording all key movements and monitoring our site with CCTV. This shows that Mr Hopkins' car was driven straight from the meet and greet area to one of our secure storage locations and remained there until he returned. His key was kept securely in a separate location throughout this time."

"We would like to assure customers that our meet and greet service is operated to high standards of integrity and security, offering peace of mind that vehicles are looked after carefully and safely while they are away."