Bentley Motor blue plaque in North London 'prized off wall and stolen'

The unofficial plaque was fixed to a building in Chagford Street, not far from Regent's Park, where Walter Owen Bentley launched his first motor car.

Alan Zafer saw that the plaque was missing on Monday (June 27) and reported it to police two days later.

Alan Zafer's Austin Healey, beneath a plaque where the first Bentley Motor car was built (Image: Alan Zafer)

"I used to have an office where the first Bentley was made in Chagford Street.

"They've taken the plaque off the wall that I got 40 years ago," Mr Zafer said.

"I've a picture of the original plaque with Mr Bentley. That plaque was stolen 40 years ago.

"With the help of the Bentley Car Club I had a new one put up and we put it higher up so that nobody would steal it, and 40 years later somebody has.

"It was prized off the wall.

"In this day and age it's a horrible thing to do."

Walter Owen Bentley under the original blue plaque in Chagford Street. (Image: Alan Zafer)

Walter Owen Bentley made his name in the world of engines during the First World War when he powered famous aeroplanes such as the Sopwith Camel.

In 1919 he launched the first Bentley motor car in Chagford Street, and the same building remains.

Mr Zafer, who lives in Marylebone, said he was not given a crime reference number when he called the police but was told "they will look into it".

A Met spokesperson said that "if it was reported, it hasn’t yet made its way onto the crime reports database that we can search to find incidents."