A Russian motorist was shocked to discover his £5,000 car had been frozen solid in a block of ice after leaving it parked on the side of the street during a heavy snow storm . Vlad Pokrovski , 32 , left his Lada Priora parked in a small ditch beside a block of flats in the city of Saratov , south-west Russia . The small ditch filled with water overnight and by the time Pokroviski had returned to the car in the morning , the water had frozen solid above the level of the wheels . Vlad Pokrovski parked his £5,000 Lada , pictured , in a drainage ditch overnight outside a block of flats . When Pokrovski returned to his car the following morning he discovered it was frozen in a block of ice . The water flooded into the car , almost covering the seats , pictured , before it froze into a solid lump . Pokrovski asked several of his friends and neighbours to help him try to free the car , but after an hour of trying to chip away at the solid block of ice , they were forced to give up after temperatures plummeted to minus 30 Celsius . Pokrovski said : `` We tried pouring hot water over it but that just froze and made it worse . 'We then tried hacking the ice away with spades and knives , but it is so hard some of them broke . ' He then called a local car garage to see if they could help , and was told it would be a waste of time . Garage owner Andrey Teliatev , 45 , said : ' I 'm not even sure its worth trying to get free . 'The engine will be dead from being flooded and I do n't think it can be repaired . 'In fact , repairing it would cost about the same as getting a new one . ' Pokrovski added : ' I ca n't believe this . 'If I had n't parked in that ditch this would never have happened , but who would have thought it ? ' I guess the snow must have melted and then when the temperatures fell froze . ' Pokrovski 's mechanic warned that after such an ordeal it would be cheaper to buy a new car . Pokrovski said he tried pouring boiling water over the ice but it froze instantly making the situation worse .
Vlad Pokrovski parked his car overnight in a drainage ditch in Saratov . When he returned the following morning the car had been frozen in ice . Water poured into the £5,000 Lada Priora which later froze solid . Mechanics told Pokrovski that it might be cheaper to buy a new car . He was warned that even when it defrosts the engine is probably ruined .