I was stunned when a strange car sat on my drive for seven days – now I’ve solved the mystery

A stunned mom has finally solved the mystery behind a random car that was parked in her driveway for almost a week.

fcurious Debbie Flynn chained the silver Vauxhall Mokka after it appeared next to her garage in Sheldon, Birmingham last week.

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She spent seven days wondering how the driver of the vehicle managed to unlock the gates to her property to park.

The mum-of-two, who lives next door to Birmingham International Airport, said it was as if the car had “just fallen out of the sky” in “completely mysterious” condition.

Debbie initially suspected scammers had sold her driveway as a cheap parking lot for holidaymakers.

Police confirmed the car had not been reported stolen and her landlord said he knew nothing about it.

she said Birmingham Live: “The cheeky idiots opened and parked my gate and closed the gates after leaving it on the lawn.

“The policeman who came to us said he had never seen anything like it in all his years.

“My first thought when it happened was that it was my landlord. I texted him which wasn’t very polite but when the landlord got in touch he assured me it wasn’t his car.”

But her landlord then had to apologize after saying he forgot he’d registered the driveway through a parking app years ago.

Debbie and her partner Leon originally had chains around the car’s wheels, so the car’s owner would have to make an explanation.

But the couple are now relieved to have solved the mystery and are glad it wasn’t a scam.

She added: “One of the first things I did when I found the car was to ask the landlord if they knew anything about it and he said he didn’t.

“The landlord has now gotten in touch and said that years ago he opened a parking app for his driveway.

“He was just checking his email and a driver emailed him that she parked in his driveway, went on vacation and will be back next week. I can not believe it.”

Parking apps, where residents rent spaces on their property, have become a popular way to make extra money, especially for those who live near airports, train stations, and downtown locations.

They are also targeted by scammers who get money from unsuspecting drivers to park on land they don’t own.

Debbie informed police when the car first appeared, but officers said they were powerless to remove the Vauxhall Mokka from the grass verge of their driveway as it was a “civil matter, not a criminal matter”.