The rise of the posh buggy thieves: Mother-of-two reveals how £700 pram was stolen from back of her car as luxury parenting essential becomes latest target for crooks

Callous thieves are stealing expensive buggies in a smash-and-grab crime spree targeting Britain's parents.

Crooks are targeting cars loaded with sleek designer prams from firms such as Babyzen, Stokke and Silvercross - before putting them up for sale on Facebook Marketplace and eBay for a quick profit.

Parents are being left hundreds of pounds out of pocket by the thefts and unable to ferry their children around - with figures suggesting the problem is only growing greater each year.

Among those to fall victim to the cruel buggy snatchers is mother-of-two Jemma Lee, 26, whose Silvercross Pioneer pram was taken from her car last month the day before her son's second birthday.

The buggy, which was worth around £700 new, appeared on Facebook Marketplace within hours of being stolen.

Has your pram being stolen? Email:

Ms Lee, from Morecambe, Lancashire, found the theft of the pram, which she had bought second-hand, heartbreaking - as in her view the thieves had stolen from her children rather than her.

'Honestly, it's probably silly, but I actually feel gutted. I was so proud of it, as dull as that may seem, to be pushing my little girl around in a pretty pram,' she told MailOnline.

'We couldn't afford a nice one for my eldest, so we decided to get a nice one for our second baby, and when that one came up for so cheap online, we felt like we'd gotten so lucky.'

In the mad rush to get home the night before, Ms Lee and her partner had wrangled the children, a two-year-old boy and an eight-month-old girl, into the house with the day's shopping - but forgot to lock the car.

A thief has then likely tried the door handle in the middle of the night. They tore through the car, making off with the pram after trying to rip out a car seat.

'They'd pulled the lining from the door, pulled everything out of the glovebox, had taken a few other items - the CarPlay system, my fiancé's glasses, a hoodie,' she recalled.

'It felt really violating, especially as it wasn't something that belonged to my partner and I exactly, but something that belonged to my daughter.

'I just can't imagine someone finding it so easy to steal from a baby too. Someone did say they thought they saw it posted for sale, but the post was removed quickly so she couldn't get a screenshot to show me.'

In the end, Ms Lee and her partner had to spend £200 on another buggy - a cost they didn't want before their eldest's birthday, but something they couldn't be without.

'I would hope the thieves would just feel guilty. I'm sure they do - I can't imagine anyone doing this sort of thing without feeling at least a little bit of guilt - but maybe that's just me trying to see the best in everyone,' she said.

'These thieves tried to leave us not only without a pram, but also without a car seat. That would have meant we wouldn't have been able to take our baby out at all until we had those things replaced.'

Lancashire Police is investigating the theft - but as yet, have been unable to trace the buggy or the perpetrator.

Ms Lee added: 'The lady (at the police station) we spoke to was lovely and understanding, I think she could see I was quite upset.

'She did say they quite often end up being able to return stolen items to their owners, so she seemed hopeful we may end up with the pram back, but so far there's been no update.'

Ms Lee is not alone in falling victim to a buggy snatcher - as thieves seemingly abandon what little morals they have in search of easy money.

Between January 2021 and July this year, 1,500 buggies and wheelchairs were reported stolen in London alone. This includes 322 were stolen in 2021, while 283 thefts were reported in the first six month of this year.

Mother-of-three and journalist Lucy Tobin had her £300 Babyzen YoYo - a popular brand used by celebrities including Kim Kardashian , Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake - stolen from her car boot, only to find it listed on eBay hours later.

Meanwhile, other distressed mothers have also been left without any wheels for their youngsters as crooks are swiping their prams from their right outside their homes.

Lucy wrote in The Times that she was later refunded for the buggy after proving it was hers. She was even able to track down the seller's address and found out they lived just a ten-minute drive from her home.

She added that the person's account showed they had listed more than 50 other items — including other buggies, car parcel shelves and EV charging cables — which 'seemed to be looted from car boots'.

Alexis Cope, 41, also had her £350 buggy stolen from her car while she was sleeping.

The thieves left no trace and she later realised they had used the same technique many carjackers have employed in recent months - hijacking the signal from key fobs and unlocking them.

April Barnes had her £400 buggy stolen from outside her flat around Camden and Kentish town last month, which meant she was forced to take her sick toddler up to A&E for hours without her pushchair.

Lauren Stevenson 'stupidly' leaving her black YoYo buggy in the boot on Halloween and woke up the next morning to find her vehicle ransacked and the buggy stolen.

She told The Times: 'We've had the buggy since my daughter was tiny — so many memories. It was also really inconvenient: my mum is 77 and needs the pram to look after my daughter.'

Amy Wilson also had her three-week-old daughters egg pram stolen from her car after it was broken into by thieves in Yeadon, Leeds.

Former police officer Paul Clubb has invented his £9 combination lock that secures buggies to railings, which he sells through his business My Buggy Buddy.

He told The Times: 'The issue of having the buggy taken is not just the cost but also the inconvenience.

'Imagine being out and someone takes your buggy — you are left holding your child, no changing bag, no buggy. It is so easy to take buggies and sell them online.'

Despite the apparent thefts, many mothers have been left frustrated with the police over their responses.

Lucy told The Times she rang the police immediately after her buggy was stolen before realising it was being flaunted on ebay. She later provided the seller's address but the police remained unresponsive.

It was only until three months later when an officer called her to say there was no proof the eBay seller was the same person who stole the buggy and therefore were unable to do anything.

Lucy claimed this lack of 'probably why many victims of buggy theft don't bother reporting their losses to the police,' she wrote in The Times.

A Met Police spokesperson told her: 'Due to a lack of positive lines of enquiry, this investigation was filed on September 19.

'With every investigation, opportunity for positive lines of enquiry has to be explored. Should further information come to light, the decision to file this investigation could be reviewed.'

An eBay spokesperson added: 'The sale of stolen property is strictly prohibited on eBay, and we work with a range of law enforcement bodies to keep our platform safe.

'This includes regularly exchanging information with law enforcement to help them with investigations. In this case, we have not been contacted by the police, but will of course assist their investigation if they request our support.'