A motorist is warning others to check their cars after finding a "tracker" placed on her Audi.

Micki – who did not want her surname published for privacy reasons – noticed the device on the bottom of her vehicle as she returned to it at Bluewater shopping centre.

Parked in the underground car park by the John Lewis store, the 29-year-old tried to remove it but failed.

She said: "I was a bit wary and do not know an awful lot about cars. I thought something had come loose so I tried to give it a wiggle but it was rock solid.

"I was going to a wedding that evening and did not want to drive a three-hour journey if something was wrong with it."

Micki took her car to a garage in Bexley - where she took the pictures - to see if it was an issue they could fix and a salesman was able to rip the device off from underneath.

They opened it and discovered it was "flashing and beeping", appearing to be a tracker connected to a battery and bluetooth.

It was attached to the metal part of the rear end by magnets.

She said: "The garage was like 'have you got a crazy ex-partner or did the police put it there'. I said 'I doubt it very much'."

Micki – who lives in the Medway Towns – first noticed it on Saturday while at the Dartford shopping centre but cannot be sure if that is where and when it was put on her car.

Her worry is if the item had been there for a few days those involved may know her home address.

"I was a bit worried someone was watching me and following me," she added. "It is not a cheap device. When I looked online it is going for around £200."

She thinks it could be a technique used to steal cars and is now warning people to check their own vehicles.

A police spokesman confirmed officers have been in contact with the person reporting the incident and inquiries are underway.

A spokesman for the shopping centre said: "There are no reports of this incident happening at Bluewater and we have not received any similar reports."