A retained firefighter has been left gutted after his £32,000 car was stolen.

Peter Ballisat, 22, of Saxon Close, Halstead, parked his white BMW M135, outside his house on Monday evening at about 11pm.

Mr Ballisat, who is also training to be a paramedic, said: “At about 3am I hear the engine start up.

“I went to look outside but couldn’t see any lights on the car or hear anything so I thought I was just dreaming and went back to bed.

“However when I went down Tuesday morning, it had gone.”

Thieves had opened his front door using the keys on the inside of the lock, one of which was the car key.

Mr Ballisat immediately reported the theft to the police, but is not confident that he will get the car back.

Anyone with information is asked to call Essex Police on 101, quoting incident number 19/05-0114.