Dashcam snaps rogue car valet at Auckland airport

Joyriding airport carpark attendant caught on camera.

A man who left his car in the care of an airport parking company was horrified to see how his vehicle was treated after an in-car camera captured the action.

Neill Ellis said he left his car with Park 'n Fly in Auckland while on a trip to Melbourne.

"The place I normally park my car ... was fully booked, so I booked at another popular place. Let's just say their staff never noticed my car cam and I'll never leave any of my vehicles there again," Mr Ellis wrote on Facebook.

Unknown to the driver entrusted to look after the vehicle, the in-car camera was recording video and audio.

Although the incident happened last May, it only emerged on Friday after the video was posted on Facebook where it has been viewed more than 78,000 times.

Mr Ellis and some of his friends were appalled at footage showing the parker driving "like a loon" and revving the engine hard. He claimed about $40 was taken.

The company, Park 'n Fly, said yesterday it was seeking a legal opinion on how to respond to the video. Director Mohammed Alim said the driver involved was no longer with the company.

He said Mr Ellis should have approached the company earlier and the driver's behaviour was atypical.

"I'm aware of the video but not the coins going missing and things like that. This happened back in May and the guy who drove the car has since been fired," Mr Alim said. "The company found that he was unsuitable for the job."

Mr Alim said the driver was on a 90-day trial, which was not extended.

"This thing only came to my [attention] yesterday. I'll talk to my lawyer tomorrow and maybe talk to police as well."

"We park thousands of cars every week and we deal with so many people and so many companies are using us on a regular basis," Mr Alim said.

Mr Ellis said yesterday he felt bad for the company owners and acknowledged "rogue employees" were probably responsible.

On Friday, a driver with a dashboard camera or "dashcam" shared footage of three people carsurfing in Lower Hutt. Police said they would investigate.

Overseas, dashcams have been hailed as useful insurance tools but also sparked debates about privacy.

In Bavaria, Germany, a new law responding to privacy concerns would impose fines of up to $483,000 on people who uploaded dashcam videos on the internet or passed them to third parties.