MASKED men have been spotted sneaking around in the early hours of the morning attempting to steal luxury cars.

The claim was made by a parish councillor in Corbridge who said he had recently witnessed, on two separate occasions, a group of men dressed head to toe in black clothing with infrared lights attached to their heads wandering into resident’s gardens.

At the latest Corbridge Parish Council meeting, Coun. Lee Stenhouse, who lives in the Hippingstones Lane area said he had encountered a group trying to access his property.

He said: “Twice in two weeks, a small group of men fully masked up with infrared torches, accompanied by a van with its lights on low, have been going into people’s gardens at three o’clock in the morning, and I’m sure they’re looking for luxury cars.

“A few weeks later at 3.30am, I heard dogs barking and the men were in my garden. I went out and they walked back slowly to the van and drove off.

“They were clearly walking around Corbridge at night and they were very confident they wouldn’t get caught.”

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said the force had not received any reports but urged people to report anything out of the ordinary.

She said: “We always encourage anyone who sees anything suspicious or has any information which could help officers with inquiries to contact police via 101, or 999 if it’s an emergency.”