A thief who stole a teenager’s first car unwittingly HELPED the young driver with his insurance costs – by scoring a perfect 10 on the vehicle’s ‘black box’ safety system.

Alex Cooper was left distraught after his prized Vauxhall Corsa was swiped from outside the Oldham skip hire company where he works.

But the 17-year-old, who had a ‘telematics’ unit installed to reduce his insurance costs by analysing his driving, was able to track down the vehicle using the system’s GPS feature.

The unit, which works like an aeroplane’s black box flight recorder, measures the driver’s speed, acceleration, smoothness and control – giving a score for each journey.

And Alex was left stunned when he found his limited edition Corsa in nearby Shaw, Oldham, three hours after it was taken – as it emerged the unidentified crook had scored a perfect 10 out of 10 for safe driving before ditching it.

Alex, from Moorside, Oldham, only managed 7.9 on the way to work that morning.

The unit, which allows Alex to monitor his performance via a phone app, means he can earn cash back for driving safely and responsibly.

His insurers Carrot say he will be allowed to keep the thief’s perfect score on his record – contributing to his overall rewards for the year.

Alex said: “I found it quite funny that he drove better than me and it’s a bit of good news that the score will count towards my rewards. But it was upsetting to have the car stolen.”

Alex only passed his test in February and it costs him around £2,400 a year for insurance on the brand new Corsa, owned by his mum Kimberley.

Using Carrot’s ‘i-box’ system, Alex and Kimberley were able to see that the £13,000 car was stolen at exactly 10.55am on Thursday, May 8, and abandoned around four miles away at 11.12am.

The Corsa, which had its passenger side window smashed in and ignition tampered with when it was stolen, is still in the garage for repairs with an estimated bill of around £2,000.

Hairdresser Kimberley, 43, said: “We were absolutely mortified when the car was stolen. It’s our pride and joy. But we laughed when we found it had been driven so carefully. We can only think they’ve driven like that to not arouse suspicion.”

A police spokeswoman said no arrests had been made over the theft.

More news from the Manchester Evening News

Find out what's happening where you live with our In Your Area section

Read the Manchester Evening News on your phone - download the Apple MEN App here , the Android MEN App here and the Kindle app here - and get the paper as an e-edition every morning by subscribing here