A BRAZEN thief jumped out of a car boot to steal a Christmas tree from outside a butcher's shop in Bradford.

The crime - described as "like something out of a film" by the business owner - was caught on camera and police are now appealing for witnesses to come forward.

A dark-coloured car - believed to be an old Renault - pulled up outside John Summers Butchers on Druids Street in Clayton.

A person, thought to be a man, can be seen on the shop's CCTV footage climbing out of the car's boot, running towards the shop and grabbing a net-wrapped Christmas tree, before jumping back into the boot with the £40 haul.

The car is then driven away along Clayton Lane, in the direction of Green End.

Shop owner John Summers said he had opened the shop on Sunday to catch up during what has been a busy period and had Christmas trees for sale outside.

"If we had not had the camera, we would not have known that the tree had gone," said Mr Summers.

"We saw a tree was missing but realised that no-one had sold one, then we checked the camera footage."

He added: "It was two lads. They had done a reccy beforehand about 15 minutes earlier, then they came back.

"One of them jumped out of the boot, got the tree and jumped back in again. It is quite comical, really - it is like something out of a film."

Mr Summers said it completed a "chaotic couple of days" after one of his customers had their car crashed into on Saturday morning.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed it was looking into the theft of the Christmas tree and urged anyone with information to come forward.

A spokesman for the force said: "Police are investigating following the theft of a Christmas tree from outside a business in Druids Street, Clayton.

"The offence is reported to have happened shortly before 1.30pm on Sunday, December 13.

"Anyone who has witnessed this offence, or who has any information about the crime, is asked to call Bradford West neighbourhood policing team via 101."