A resident of Leeds in the UK watched in horror last week as a group of alleged thieves removed the catalytic converter from beneath his wife's parked car and made off with it.

The footage he filmed on the Gledhow area of the city on April 21 showed three masked men with one beneath a blue Toyota Prius removing the expensive car part.

"Piece of s**t," yells the filmer as they place the converter in the back of their getaway vehicle.

Just before the alleged thieves speed off, one of them approaches the filmer and goads him brazenly.

"Alright, mate. Have a nice evening," he says.

A spike in the theft of catalytic converters from parked cars continued last year with the car insurer Admiral reporting a 44 per cent rise in claims for the issue from its customers.

Rare metals found in the catalytic converters are more valuable than gold and can be easily sold on.

3 thieves steal a catalytic converter from Prius on 21st of April 2021.