A rail engineer’s £20,000 Range Rover sport was stolen from outside a gym while he went swimming.

Gary Matthews, 53, Hornchurch, had the keys to the dark metallic car stolen along with a £400 watch, his wallet, and an iPhone after a locker in the David Lloyd leisure centre car park, Squirrels Heath Lane, Gidea Park, was broken into, last week.

Mr Matthews came back to his locker after a 45 minute swim to find the padlock was gone, the door wide open and his possessions missing.

He said: “All my stuff was gone. I was lucky they left my clothes and my bag.

“If I had gone back to my locker and found them there, who knows what might have happened, I could have ended up being attacked. The gym should tell its members what is happening.”

Mr Matthews entered the leisure centre, where he has been swimming for the past seven years at 8.15pm.

He said two men had walked in behind and one of them had stood next to him while he was putting his belongings into a locker.

The police were called and the gym’s CCTV footage showed a hazy image of a man getting into Mr Matthews’ Range Rover and driving off from the car park at 8.27pm,

The following day, Natwest bank, in Romford, called Mr Matthews to tell him someone had repeatedly tried to access his credit card with the wrong pin and it could identify the man on its CCTV.

Mr Matthews said: “I have a four digit number in my wallet, which is the code for my motorbike crash helmet and the thief must have thought this was my credit card number.”

Last year, a similar incident happened at the same gym when a shopkeeper had

his £5,000 Rolex watch stolen, after his locker was broken into.

Mr Matthews said he now has to do the hour and 20 minutes drive to his work in Three Bridges, Crawley, where he is a rail engineer, in his truck.

David Llyod gym declined to comment.

Police have confirmed they are investigating the theft.