There's nothing worse than coming home from a holiday and realising that you've got bills to pay and work on Monday. Actually, there's probably one more thing worse than that: finding out the council has not only impounded your car, but crushed it into a nice, little cube.
That's what Tim Pyke was confronted with when he returned to his home in Colchester, Essex, after enjoying a fun stag do in Spain. He was planning on modifying his 2002 blue BMW to make it roadworthy again, so he left it in his private parking space and signed a Statutory Off Road Notification.
According to the local council, they never received his SORN, and the DVLA couldn't find a registered owner, so it was classed as abandoned.
Credit: SWNS
Tim is naturally pissed off because he says he was never contacted about the issue before they crushed the car to bits. The 30-year-old says: "The car was worth around £1,600 and I had around £1,500 worth of tools in the back.
"They've just taken my property without my consent and destroyed it. I've had no offer of compensation or even an apology."
He says the vehicle didn't need to be taxed or insured because he wasn't planning on taking it on the road until he had it properly modified.
Credit: SWNS
Tim had a run-in in April with residential management company PMS, after it told the council that the car, despite it being in his parking space, was abandoned. As a result, the council gave him a notification, giving him 14 days to respond.
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Tim says: "I immediately phoned the council and told them it was my vehicle, in my space and that it hadn't been abandoned."
A spokesman from PMS said: "We were contacted by the directors of the residents' management company at Albany Gardens regarding a car which they believed had been abandoned and we reported this to Colchester Borough Council."
A Colchester Council spokesman said: "As there was no DVLA Registered Keeper or Statutory Off Road Notification, a notice was served on the vehicle the same day.
"Following the 14 day legal notice period and instructions from PMS Management Estates, the vehicle was then removed."
But clearly, someone didn't get the memo and it's resulted in this debacle.
Tim says he's considering legal action because he's now without expensive tools as well as a passion project that would have been his pride and joy.
Featured Image Credit: SWNS