Peugeots are recalled in boot fiasco

Up to 100,000 Peugeot 406s are to be recalled because the boot is too easy to break into.

The car makers discovered that a thief can open the boot within seconds without using tools or causing any damage.

Letters are going out today to thousands of owners of the popular saloon, warning them of the security fault. The fiasco, which will be exposed on BBC's Watchdog programme tonight, has forced the company to recall vehicles which are under three years old.

However, owners of the 406 are likely to be unimpressed at the length of time it has taken Peugeot to act. More than 200,000 French versions of the car were recalled in July. But despite the fact that the cars destined for Britain came from the same production-line and had the same faults, it has taken a further two months for the company to order the recall.

The BBC programme reveals undercover footage of two Peugeot mechanics fixing the boot of one broken car. They joke about how easy the boot is to open and that they could go to an NCP car park and easily break into a few 406s. The footage suggests that the problem may have been known to the company for some time before the recall was ordered.

Tony Robinson, 41, a carpenter from Newbury-lost £2,000 worth of tools from the boot of his 406 which he bought two years ago because he thought it was less likely to be targeted by thieves than a traditional builder's van.

One afternoon he returned to his car to find the tools gone. There were no marks on the car and nothing else had been stolen.

"When I went to tell the police, they did not believe that I had locked it in the first place. It looked like I was on an insurance fiddle. When I called Peugeot they said they knew nothing about it. I was not insured so have lost all of that money. I feel really angry that they probably knew about it but did nothing," he said.

Peugeot refused to comment.