AN IPSWICH woman today spoke of her shock after her 4x4 was stolen and used to ram-raid an Ipswich cinema.The single mother-of-two who owned the blue M-reg Jeep said she would not be able to afford the £5,000 cost of replacing the vehicle and that not having a courtesy car made it hard for her to look after her sons.

AN IPSWICH woman today spoke of her shock after her 4x4 was stolen and used to ram-raid an Ipswich cinema.

The single mother-of-two who owned the blue M-reg Jeep said she would not be able to afford the £5,000 cost of replacing the vehicle and that not having a courtesy car made it hard for her to look after her sons.

The second-hand vehicle was stolen from outside her Leopold Road home sometime after 7.30pm on Thursday night and written off when it was driven through the glass front doors of Cineworld in Cardinal Park.

Debbie, a clerical assistant at an Ipswich leisure centre, who has sons aged seven and nine, said she was too upset to be fully identified.

“It has been an absolute nightmare. I work all the hours I can and everything I worked for has been taken away from me. I am a totally law-abiding person and then someone comes along and takes my car. I am really angry.

“I only discovered it had gone when I went to take the kids to school.”

Now Debbie is afraid the thieves could return because they know her address as well as many of her personal details from documents left in the Jeep. It also contained a mobile phone, two children's scooters and 12 CDs.

She described the vehicle as her one luxury.

She said police told her that it had been written off, although her insurance company said it could be salvageable.

Her insurance company MORE TH>N has not provided a courtesy car and now she is dependent on friends for lifts when she needs to go to the shops or take her sons anywhere.

A spokesman for the insurer said: “We pride ourselves on our claims service and are sorry that your reader is unhappy with the way her claim has been handled. However we would point out that we were first informed of the theft of her car on Friday and by the afternoon of Monday we had already arranged for one of our recommended garages to collect her car from the police.

“Once we have had the chance to view the damage we can discuss with the customer whether it can be repaired or needs to be written off.”

The thieves drove the Jeep inside Cineworld, rammed an ATM and then sped out before dumping the vehicle nearby.

The raid happened at about 4.35am. Police are looking for witnesses and ask anyone who saw the raid or the vehicle in the area to call Det Sgt Tracey Cracknell at Ipswich CID on 01473 613500.

A police spokesman said no arrests have been made and inquiries were continuing.