A MIDDLESBROUGH footballer had his £150,000 Ferrari stolen from under his nose - after he apparently left the keys in the ignition at a petrol station forecourt.

The Northern Echo understands that midfielder Gary O'Neil - owner of the black Ferrari F430 Spider F1 - looked on as his car was driven off by an opportunist thief from the Shell garage, in Ripon Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire at 9.15am on Monday, as he went to pay for his fuel.

The thief, who has already been jailed for the impromptu theft, then took the sports car, which has a top speed of 197mph, on a high-speed excursion into York.

A member of the public alerted police after spotting the Ferrari on the A59 between Harrogate and York, overtaking a string of other vehicles at a "very fast speed".

The car, which can do nought to 60mph in 3.5 seconds, was fitted with a GPS tracking system, which enabled police to pinpoint the car's location.

A quick-thinking officer in an unmarked police car picked up the Ferrari in York and followed it discreetly, until it stopped outside the Elmbank Hotel, near York Racecourse.

The driver, 28-year-old Philip McNamara, from Hull, spotted the officer and tried to make his escape by fleeing on foot along Tadcaster Road.

But a number of officers were ready and he was arrested after a short chase, less than an hour after taking the car.

McNamara appeared at Harrogate Magistrates' Court yesterday, where he admitted a charge of aggravated vehicle taking.

He was sentenced to ten weeks in prison.

There was no separate penalty on a charge of driving without insurance.

A third charge, of theft from a vehicle, was withdrawn.

Graham Cooper, police community support officer for Acomb and Holgate, was one of the officers called to the scene.

He said: "The car was parked outside a petrol garage - the owner seemed to have left the keys in the ignition.

"Somebody must have seen the keys, jumped in that car and stolen it."

He said the car had been taken to a recovery company and had only suffered minor scratches to the paintwork.

A Middlesbrough spokesman said the club was unable to comment "due to the sensitivity of the matter".