A similar thing NEARLY happened to my Classic Cooper last year.
While a few of us sat chatting in our kitchen one afternoon - broad daylight, some scally walked in my front room picked up my keys and tried to steal my Mini, must've been kids as they didnt think to disarm the alarm which is luckily connected to twin air horns - this meant the whole of the street came out so the scallies had run.
They didnt drop the keys which meant I had a week of parking my car elsewhere which was a pain AND those of you that have owned mini classics can imagine what a performance it was trying to get the locks changed, immobilser reprog'd etc etc, not quite the same simple experience as getting your car sorted out by a BMW dealer.
So ALWAYS lock your house doors and keep your keys in a place they cant be spotted easily. Friends laugh and think I'm being a bit over the top and paranoid - after all it's supposed to be 'nice' where I live, BUT if my Cooper had gone I wouldn't have been insured (front door not locked) and I would probably have never found another classic cooper of that spec and condition again.
Hope you get your Cooper back safe and sound Neil
Lucy
