A motorist is suing police after his stolen car was kept at a pound for four years and mysteriously stripped of parts.

When Jeremy Pascoe's Land Rover Discovery was finally returned by Thames Valley Police, there was so much damage it had to be written off.

And an animal had been living inside, with a dog food bowl left in the boot. The interior was covered in oily fingerprints.

Mr Pascoe claims that while the car was stored by police at a Ministry of Defence site in Oxfordshire, it was "harvested for parts".

A police report from 2004, when his vehicle was found, described its condition as good, with just a flat tyre and two scratches to a wing.

But a report made this year, before the car was handed back, said it was beyond economic repair, with extensive damage and parts missing.

Mr Pascoe won a court action against Thames Valley Police at Oxford County Court last month and is now waiting for a hearing to determine how much compensation he should receive.

He said: "It was stripped. The windows had been taken out and the switches had gone. There wasn't one panel which hadn't been damaged or had something removed.

"I contacted police and said my car had been harvested for parts. They said it wasn't them."

The Land Rover was stolen from his house in Surrey in 2004 and later recovered by West Midlands Police.

Mr Pascoe asked for it to be returned but it was handed to Thames Valley Police as evidence in a case against a gang of car thieves.

After their trial in 2006, police kept the car, because they said its ownership was in doubt. This January, the now ruined vehicle was returned to him.

Mr Pascoe added: "It's a comedy of errors. I feel like we've been mugged.

"Thames Valley have been covering their backside and passing the buck, as if it is anyone else's fault but theirs. I'm pretty disgusted.

"It spent four years in a police pound and someone has taken bits off my car."

Music producer Mr Pascoe estimates the value of the vehicle at £8,900. He rejected a police offer of £1,800.

Thames Valley Police spokesman David Paull said: "This case has been duly considered and compensation was offered to Mr Pascoe. The offer was rejected and it's now for the court to decide the level of payment."

Police added it was "regrettable" but would not offer Mr Pascoe an apology.