A MAN is claiming his legally-parked vehicle has been towed away and WRECKED by the Forest of Dean Council.

And to rub salt into the wound, says Neil Reece of Cinderford, council officers have offered no compensation – only suggesting he takes legal advice.

However the council says it acted because it had been reported as an abandoned vehicle and was considered by them to be in such a dilapidated condition that it was a danger to the public.

Mr Reece left the white Sierra for a few days in the small car park near Elmdean flats, where his mother lives. The tax had three months to run and was fixed securely to the window, he said.

He said the council claimed in a letter to him that the tax disc had not been visible and they had left a notice of their intention to take it away.

"I checked it the night before it disappeared and all was fine," said Mr Reece. "I have witnesses who say it was taxed, and there was definitely no notice. I would have thought that the very least they could do was check on the tax with DVLA.

"Instead they said the car had been taken to a car yard in Mitcheldean – and lo and behold, somebody had found the tax on the car floor and it had been handed in to Coleford police.

"I went to Mitcheldean only to find the car wrecked, with the windows and panels stoved in and the new radio and carpentry tools left in the boot unaccounted for.

"I was really mad and called the council but they are only saying I can claim my tax back by getting the disc from the police and I should take legal advice over any other claim."

He said the car was worth around £500, he'd bought a new Phillips radio for it for £350 and with the tools he had lost about £1,000 altogether.

"I am terribly upset about it – I just don't know where to turn to. If it hadn't been the council that took it and smashed it up the police could have acted, but they can't do anything, just give the tax back."

But Mr Amir Razvi, who heads the council department which deals with abandoned vehicles, says the council left a seven-day notice in a prominent position on the car alerting the owner to proposed action.

The notice had numbers which the owner could ring if the vehicle was still wanted. And contrary to Mr Reece's view they had contacted DVLA, but had been unable to trace Mr Reece.

"It is unfortunate, but sometimes we have to act quickly when we consider it is in the public interest," Mr Razvi said.