A pair of brazen thieves snatched a man’s car from under his nose.

In a desperate attempt to prevent the theft, Lee Barraclough held on to the back door of his Vauxhall Astra for 20ft as it screeched away from his house in Carr Bottom Road, Bankfoot, Bradford.

But, fearing serious injury, the 33-year-old was forced to let go and watch in despair as his dark blue motor, registration YC55ONS, headed on to Manchester Road.

The vehicle had been up for sale for a fortnight, priced at £5,495, and the two offenders had arrived at Mr Barraclough’s home under the guise of potential buyers.

Mr Barraclough said: “It had been up for sale for a fortnight with stickers in the window.

“It had been sitting outside my house and I had already had a couple of people come to look at it.

“Two guys came knocking at my door – I don’t know if it was opportunist or planned.

“I went outside with them and they said ‘can you pop the bonnet?’, so I did. Then they said ‘can you start the engine so we can have a listen to it?’, which I did.

“I walked round to the back of the car with one of them and he was asking about whether it had any bumps or dents. While my attention was focused on him, the other guy has jumped in the driver’s seat.

“I suspected at that stage that he might be looking to nick it, so I was stood talking to him on the driver’s side and was watching his foot to see if he went for the clutch because it wasn’t in gear.

“I was thinking ‘if he goes to the clutch, I will whip the key away.’ “Then they said ‘can we take it for a spin around the block?’ As I opened the back door to get in, he put it in gear and wheelspan off. I held on to the door for about 20ft and it got faster and faster and it started flashing through my mind that I might be dragged under the wheels if I kept holding on, so I let go.

“I’m okay but just more annoyed than anything.

“You think it will never happen to you. I have watched the television and heard about this happening and thought ‘how stupid can you be to let someone nick your car from under your nose?’ Now it’s happened to me.

“I was thinking I had a good chance of a sale. One of them knew what he was talking about and was pretty convincing.”

One of the suspects was aged in his early 20s, white and of slim build. The other was in his mid to late 20s, more stocky than the first and wearing a beanie hat.

The incident happened at about 6.15pm on Monday. Police said the car was still missing yesterday.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information about the whereabouts of the vehicle should call police on 0845 6060606.