If you think the price of car parts has got expensive in Ireland, then spare a thought for Chinese man Mr Zhang of Jilin city, who has been forced to pay a ransom on two occasions for parts “kidnapped” from his car.

It seems that rather than find new buyers for stolen parts, certain Chinese thieves find it more profitable to sell them back to their original owner. Twice Mr. Zhang has gone to his car, only to find his computerised engine management system stolen and a ransom note under his windscreen wiper with a bank account number. Fed up with having to pay to get his parts back, Mr Zhang has now taken drastic action and had a secure metal cage built to park his car in.