TWO Premier League stars have had their flash luxury cars returned to them after the vehicles were found in shipping containers headed for Dubai.

The supercars recovered by the Essex Police’s Stolen Vehicle Intelligence Unit were a Ferrari and a Range Rover.

So far this year, the force’s team has recovered 517 cars or parts of vehicles with a combined value of more than £16million.

The two players, who have not been identified but have more than 100 international caps between them, had their cars stolen in neighbouring counties.

The SVIU’s PC Paul Gerrish, PC Phil Pentelow and analyst Hannah Gerrish, tracked down the vehicles to shipping containers which were due to travel to Dubai from London Gateway Port in Thurrock.

As yet, no arrests have been made in connection to the vehicle thefts.

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It’s thought once a car is stolen, thieves may look to quickly sell it on, even for a price well below its market value, or strip it for parts or even ship the whole vehicle  to areas such as the Middle East or Africa, where it can be sold for two or three times its cost in the UK.

The thieves or handlers of the stolen vehicles may obtain false or cloned identities before selling it on to an unsuspecting member of the public in the UK or even distribute them to other criminals.

Essex Police launched Operation Ignition this summer which saw the SVIU, Roads Policing and investigators work together to break up the criminal gangs behind the thefts.

The SVIU has managed to return vehicles to hundreds of victims from family saloons to supercars.

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PC Gerrish said: “Every stolen car is important to us and we work as hard as we can to get them back to their owners.

“When you phone someone up and tell them we’ve got their car with their kids’ car seats and the pushchair in the back, or other personal items, it’s hugely satisfying.

“We are creating a hostile environment for car thieves. We know what to look for and we know how and where they operate.”

One of the Premier League footballers went to the SVIU base to be reunited with his car and praised the team’s work.

PC Pentelow said: “He was genuinely thankful and taken aback by the lengths we had gone to.

“His car was clearly very dear to him, and he was very impressed with the service he’d had from the police.

“Even though he plays for one of my team’s biggest rivals, he was a nice guy and down-to-earth. It was good to help him.”

The SVIU team work with manufacturers including Jaguar Land Rover, Ford, BMW and Mercedes-Benz to improve vehicle security.

The team recommends drivers learn about their car’s vulnerabilities by watching videos online and check the website Secured by Design to find recommended safety devices for your car and think about getting a Disklok.

However, they say the biggest vulnerability is people leaving their vehicles unlocked.

PC Pentelow said: “Double lock it and check it. We still see CCTV where people’s cars aren’t locked.”

In July this year, the Essex Police’s SVIU team recovered cars and car parts worth £1m, in one of their most successful weeks ever.

The unit recovered high-end cars including a Rolls-Royce, a Bentley Bentayga, alongside several Range Rovers and BMWs.

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In recent months they have located and recovered a range of Ferraris and Aston Martins.

A Rolls-Royce Cullinan recovered during recent operations was worth more than £360,000 alone.

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