Joanna Lumley reportedly helped scare off thieves who were attempting to steal her car, outside her home in South London. Writing in her column, journalist Emma Duncan revealed she had been woken up "in the middle of the night by a commotion" and decided to check it out.

Investigating the noise, Emma said she spotted "a group of men on motorbikes" surrounding a car whose alarm was going off.

Writing in The Times, she said: "One of them was sitting in the driver’s seat, yelling, 'I can't f****** start it!'".

Emma recalled that she shouted at the group to leave - only to realise she had an unexpected ally.

She wrote: "For want of anything better to do, I yelled at them to f*** off; at which point I realised that Joanna Lumley, who lives down the street, had joined me and was doing much the same.

"The men obligingly f*** off. Joanna, whose car they were trying to steal, was left with a bit of damage to its boot. I was left with the happy knowledge that my crime wave is more surreal than anybody else’s crime wave."

According to Daily Mail, neighbours said several vehicles on the same road - including a 1990s Rolls-Royce - had recently been targeted.

One resident reportedly claimed there had been a number of incidents involving thugs "driving on motorbikes".

Meanwhile, The Sun reported that a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Service said: "Tackling car theft and other neighbourhood crime remains a priority for the Met.

"We have strengthened neighbourhood policing, with more officers focused on identifying and targeting the most prolific offenders who cause the greatest harm to communities.

"Across London, vehicle crime, including theft and damage to vehicles, is down by almost 15 per cent compared with this time last year."

Joanna has yet to speak publicly about the incident. Reach PLC has contacted a representative for comment.

This comes after the actress spoke out about turning 80 next month. Discussing the milestone, she confessed she has been claiming to be the age for several years already and shared her possible plans for the day.

She told The Telegraph: "It's extraordinary, isn't it? I've been saying I'm 80 for the last two or three years because I thought I was, but I wasn't.

"People are making a big hoo-ha about this 80, as if I'm somehow going to be different, as if some huge precipice is reached. I'll be working on my birthday. I'm thrilled and I'm touched that people have remembered and think about it more than I do."