Becks' stolen BMW 'used by Macedonian Government minister'

A luxury 4x4 stolen from David Beckham is being used by a Macedonian government minister, it has been claimed.

The star's £70,000 armour plated BMW X5 was stolen a year ago on Good Friday while he had lunch at a restaurant near his home in Madrid.

It was taken from an underground car park after a gang of professional car thieves started the engine using high-tech software.

Newspapers in the Balkan state of Macedonia have now published photos of the Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska getting into a car believed to be Beckham's stolen 4x4 in the capital Skopje.

Police spokesman Ivo Kotevski said: "Before it reached Macedonia this vehicle had changed hands 20 times in Spain, so we still have no proof that it belonged to Beckham."

The car is thought to have been shipped to Greece then driven to Macedonia, where it was seized by police during a raid on a people-smuggling gang in November last year.

The Macedonian government began using it as an official vehicle as nobody came forward to claim it.

Ms Jankulovska said: "If Beckham asks for the vehicle back I will hand him the keys myself."

Becks, 31, has had two BMW X5s stolen since moving to the Spanish capital in summer 2003.

Last October a £100,000 4x4 was stolen from a street near the footballer's £5million home in La Moraleja, on the outskirts of Madrid.