A MAN came back from walking his dogs to see his car being pushed into the canal.

Mike Bowen, from Chirk, was walking along the canal in Pentre towards Whitehurst when he saw someone pushing his car into the water.

Mr Bowen had cut his walk short that day because of the cold weather.

But on his return he saw a man moving around by his car, and then pushing it down the embankment so it rolled backwards into the canal.

He said: “I turned the corner and saw a figure moving by my car, and when I saw he was pushing it I started running towards him shouting to stop.

“The car hit the water and all the lights and the horn came on. The person just jumped back into his car, which was already facing the road, and drove off towards Chirk.”

The Citroen C1, which had no valuables inside, was parked just off the B5605 in a lay-by next to the canal on Thursday.

The passenger’s side window had been smashed and Mr Bowen believed the man had leaned across the interior of the car and taken off the handbrake, giving him the opportunity to push the car into the canal.

“It’s just bizarre. We’ve walked this path near enough every night for three years, but now my wife is too scared to do it,” said Mr Bowen.

“We will never be able to go there without this in the back of our minds.”

A spokesman for North Wales Police said they were alerted to a call at about 4.35pm when a car was pushed down the embankment into the canal.

The vehicle was recovered at 8.30pm and there is an ongoing investigation.

Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident, or has any information, to call 101 and quote incident number V002128.