A student is appealing to a car thief’s good nature for the return of his prized vintage mini for Christmas.

Ben Wheldon-Bayes was devastated when he went out into the street to get something from the brown B-reg Austin Mini only to find it had been stolen.

The 20-year-old civil engineering student had driven home from Southampton University and parked outside his family home on Northcourt Avenue, Reading, on Saturday (20).

Just a few hours later he went to retrieve something and found the parking space empty.

The student has launched a Facebook campaign to get his first car back. He had also reported it stolen to Thames Valley Police.

He said: “I went out at half two in the morning to get something from the car and that’s when I discovered it was missing.

“I would just really like my car back.

“Somebody has obviously done this on purpose and they are really heartless but if someone has a heart and could help me find it, I mean that would be great.

“The police told him that there had been a lot of car thefts in the area over that particular weekend and suspected that a gang had been out targeting resident’s vehicles.”

The student believes that someone noticed his vintage car, called accomplices and took it between the hours of 6:30pm and 2am. He said there is a huge market for selling mini parts, especially those from older models.

Mr Wheldon-Bayes Facebook plea has received over five thousand shares, in the quest to recover the car he bought three years ago after passing his test.

The Austin Mini is brown with the registration B335 EDA and anyone who spots it should contact Thames Valley Police.