AN innocent resident was left perplexed after he found out his missing car was seized by police as part of major murder investigation.

Police later apologised to the car owner, who was told his vehicle had been taken in because it matched the description of one officers were searching for.

The resident, who lives on Low Lane in Horsforth, first discovered his car had disappeared from outside his house when he returned home from work on the evening of Monday, December 16.

He presumed it had been stole so rang West Yorkshire Police that same night to report his vehicle stolen.

This was only a few days after a large police presence had been spotted in the local vicinity.

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It was only the next morning - on Tuesday, December 17 - that the individual found out the reality of what had happened to his car.

The vehicle is registered under the resident's father's name, who lives elsewhere in the country.

So, when officers saw it matched the description of a vehicle they were looking for as part of the murder investigation, they acted in haste.

A West Yorkshire Police Spokesperson said: "The vehicle was identified as being potentially connected to a serious ongoing criminal investigation and was seized based on information available at that time.

"Given that it was registered outside of the county, it was not immediately clear that the owner resided in the near vicinity.

"As soon as it could be ascertained that it had no involvement, the appropriate action was taken to return it and the storage cost of the vehicle has been met by the Force.

"We apologise for any inconvenience or apprehension that this may have caused."

The resident said he was told by police that they didn’t inform him at the time because "they couldn’t" due to the nature of the investigation.

He also said that he had to go to Armley to collect his car.

Police have been continuing a murder investigation after the death of Keith Harrower, also known as Joshua French.

He was stabbed in an incident outside the Premier supermarket, in Dewsbury Road, Beeston, shortly before 5.30pm on Thursday, December 12.

The 40-year-old was later pronounced dead in hospital.

The first man to be charged, was Kearon Barker 30, of Cardinal Crescentt in Beeston.

He appeared in Leeds Magistrates' Court on the morning of Tuesday, December 17, accused of murder and of possession of an offensive weapon.

Mr Barker was remanded in custody to appear at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday, December 18.

On Tuesday, December 17, Omar Ishaq, of Low Lane in Horsforth was charged with the murder of Mr Harrower.

He appeared at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning where the case was sent to Leeds Crown Court and Mr Ishaq was taken into custody overnight.

Mr Ishaq then appeared at Leeds Crown Court at 9am on Thursday, December 19.