Grandfather is reunited with car three years after leaving it in car park... and it starts first time

A grandfather has been reunited with a car that has sat idle since he lost it almost three years ago and was stunned to discover it started first time.

Gerald Sanctuary, 80, parked the silver Honda saloon in an NCP car park when he went out shopping in May 2008.
But the dementia sufferer sadly forgot where he left it and was eventually helped home by a Good Samaritan.

Safely parked: Gerald Sanctuary's car was discovered exactly where he left it almost three years ago
Despite a huge search for the car by his family in St Albans, Hertfordshire, it was never found and remained where he left it - until now.
The mystery was finally solved when attendant Charlene Lewis, 29, noticed that the car was suspiciously dirty and alerted police.
Mr Sanctuary's son, Nigel, 50, said: 'It's just amazing that it was right under our noses the whole time.
'And, even more astonishingly, when my sister and her husband went to get the car, although they used a battery booster, it started straight away.'

Nigel, a software consultant, had searched for the car for days and eventually gave up, presuming it had been stolen.
He was alerted to the car's location by police over Christmas and when his sister Sophie went to collect the car she was astounded to find it still in situ, despite a credit card having been left on the dashboard.
To the rescue: Car park attendant Charlene Lewis, 29, alerted police to the vehicle's location
'It's a real testament to the security of NCP car parks that the car was secure and it's a real wonder that the car fired up straight away and then sat idling for some time,' said Nigel, a father of four.
'We really owe our thanks to Charlene whose diligence has given us back the car and brought a smile to our faces.'

'Dad kept saying that the car was near the chemists and we checked so many chemists and it wasn't there.
'But on Drovers Way there's a Boots, so he was right after all.'

An NCP spokeswoman said: 'We're proud to hear how hard Charlene has worked to make sure that our procedures were followed.
'We believe this gentleman was a very loyal customer to NCP.
'We wish him well and are pleased that his car has been returned to him and his family.'

Mr Sanctuary is now being looked after in St Christopher's Nursing Home in Hatfield.

His daughter Sophie is having the Honda serviced and plans to use it as


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348938/Gerald-Sanctuary-finds-car-years-parking-it.html#ixzz1Br52JVE4

So they were very diligent ..took took 3 years to find it in the car part ,did the car park attendant not notice it .
i am sure if someone left one at Beau sejour for that amount of time the folks up there would have noticed it ..just how BIG is the care park!

I used to use Heathrow airport carparks quite a lot and to begin with I had a few hairy times trying to find my car. So I started drawing myself a little map when I parked. That worked fine.

did they not charge him for the parking fees...a lovely story though xx