A woman who turned amateur detective and tracked down her stolen car through Facebook was stunned to be handed a £150 bill by police.

Kirsty King's white Audi A1 was traced less than 24 hours after it was taken when her online plea for help was shared more than 700 times.

But when she went to collect it she found police had already recovered the car and demanded £150 for its return.

Police said the fee was mandatory under the law, but it would review the case.

Kirsty, who is five months pregnant, posted her Facebook plea for help after her house in Bottesford was broken into and her car was stolen.

Within a few hours a woman called to tell her the Audi was parked on a street 25 miles away in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire. The woman who called Kirsty also alerted Nottinghamshire Police.

The hairdresser went to collect the vehicle, taking the spare key and documents to prove it was hers, only to find it had been removed by police.

She said an officer was waiting for her at the scene to hand her paperwork to allow her to get her car back, but later discovered the £150 charge to have it released from the police car pound.

Kirsty, 27, said: "I didn't understand what I was paying for. I didn't organise the pickup. I was already in Stapleford with my spare key, I could have just taken it.

"It was disgusting, I was really shocked. Especially when I did the majority of the work myself.

"I was the one that shared it on Facebook and found my car, so to get a bill of £150 is terrible.

"I thought putting an appeal on Facebook was a long shot gamble so I was delighted when it paid off."

But the force said it first heard about the Audi after a report of an abandoned vehicle.

Checks confirmed it was stolen and when an officer visited the scene a forensic examination was ordered.

"At this point, neither the officer nor the force control room had received any indication that the owner of the vehicle had intended to collect it herself," a spokesman said.

He added that vehicle recovery fees are set out by law but that in this case officers will review what happened and speak to Kirsty.

Kirsty was also unhappy that a jacket and pair of sunglasses apparently belonging to the thief were left in her car when it was returned. She wrote on Facebook: "Pretty sure that's good evidence in catching the thieves?"

Photo credits: Raymonds Press