Imagine going shopping, unlocking your car and dropping off your bags – only to discover your car keys have opened the wrong car, identical to yours!

That’s exactly what happened when Nigel and Hilary Mitchell went shopping in Ashford town.

And to top off their problems, they left the pink lamp they had just bought on the back seat of the other driver’s car.

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Mrs Mitchell, 66, was shocked to discover the electronic key fob to their Kia Rio had opened another car.

She said: “I thought it was impossible!”

The couple, who live in New Romney, had parked their silver Kia Rio in the Lidl and Park Club gym car park on Thursday, September 22, at around 1pm.

While out, they bought a pale pink lamp with perforations for their spare room with a £2.99 sticker on it.

Mr Mitchell, 63, returned to the car park, and put it on the back seat of the car he had opened.

He said: “I approached the car which I thought was my wife’s, pressed the key fob to open the door, it opened, then I opened the back door and put the lamp on the seat.”

When he got in the vehicle, he spotted a cradle for a handsfree device. He continued: “It was either a red satnav bracket or one for an iPhone. Then I realised it was the wrong car.

“I was a bit shocked to be honest!”

Mr Mitchell managed to immediately lock the car back up, and saw that their car was close by with just one other car in between.

Shocked by what had happened, they were able to unlock their own car and drive away but then realised they had left their purchase in the other silver Rio.

Mr Mitchell added: “It would be nice to get the lamp back and also to meet up with the people who own the other Rio so I can apologise!”

Video: A car fob unlocked the wrong car

A spokesman for Kia said: “We have had no reported incidents of this happening before.

“Our customer service team have spoken to the Mitchells and with their knowledge we have referred the issue to our factory in Korea and are awaiting a response from them, which is likely to be later this week and we will then feed back to the customer.

“The remote central locking system on each car is programmed with a rolling code which means that each time the car is locked a new code is generated.

“In the unlikely event that this does not happen the car will not be able to be driven. The immobiliser system for the car requires a separate code to the remote central locking which is individual to each car.

“The Mitchells would not be able to drive the car that they opened. Their immobiliser will only work in their car to start it.

“Despite the Mitchells opening and then locking the other car, the actual owners will be able to unlock their car and drive it. What they may have found is that the car didn’t unlock on the first ‘click’ of the remote.”

Have you discovered a pink lamp in your car which doesn’t belong to you? Contact kentishexpress@thekmgroup.co.uk