Car vanishes from Maidenhead drive as doorbell camera freezes

A woman has said she feels violated after her car was stolen when her doorbell camera froze for seven minutes.

Melissa Harris, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, said she suspected the thieves used a jamming device on her Ring doorbell to create a window of opportunity.

She said her neighbour’s security camera also stopped working at exactly the same time on Tuesday night.

In January 2025, the BBC’s Rip Off Britain programme showed how thieves could disable security cameras by using a £30 jamming device disguised as a watch.

Harris said the cameras around her home stopped recording at 01:55 GMT and came back on at 02:02.

She said: “There’s a big gap, there’s a seven-minute gap when the cameras all freeze.

“My car’s there quite plainly… and then it vanishes.”

At the end of the road, an unaffected camera caught the car being driven away, she added.

Technology reporter David McClelland said Harris was right to suspect that a jammer had been used, as well as a relay device to unlock the car.

He said: “There is case history that proves that criminals have been using wi-fi jamming type devices in order to disable CCTV camera systems, video doorbell systems and therefore cloak themselves while they commit a crime.”

McClelland said potential solutions included doorbells with built-in memory cards or wired connections.

He said manufacturers should explain the vulnerability of some systems and provide fixes.

Harris added: “We thought we were doing the right thing by having a Ring doorbell or security.

“But if they can block your video then they can do anything. What if we were relying on that for something more important like a nanny cam or an animal cam or something?

“It just makes me feel a bit scared that they’ve got this incredible technology where they can just invade your property.”

Thames Valley Police said it was investigating the reported theft and no arrests had been made.