A MOTORIST is demanding compensation after returning from holiday to find his car had been towed away and crushed.

Dr Martin Goodson, 37, who confessed he rarely drives, parked his Vauxhall Astra near his home in Canal Street, Jericho, Oxford, in January.

His car received parking fines on January 19 and 21 because it was left in a two-hour restricted parking zone despite having a resident’s parking permit.

But after police found it straddling double yellow lines and the pavement on January 22, Witney-based recovery firm Kardos was called to take it to a compound.

Dr Goodson, an Oxford University scientist, believes vandals “bumped” his car on to the double yellow lines, and said he was unaware it had been fined or seized.

And a letter sent from Kardos, warning him the vehicle would be crushed, mistakenly arrived at a neighbour’s address and was returned to the company.

Dr Goodson said that when he returned from a week-long holiday in the Canary Islands on February 24, two parking tickets had arrived in the post.

He went to check on his car and discovered it was missing.

Police officers directed him to Kardos which said the car had been crushed into a cube on February 17 because the owner had failed to contact them.

He said: “I didn’t know anything was going on. I don’t use the car very much then came the day I needed it and realised it wasn’t there.

“I phoned the police and they put me in touch with a very sheepish woman at Kardos who said they had crushed it. It’s shocking.”

Photographs provided by Oxfordshire County Council’s fines department show the car in the two-hour zone and after it had been bumped on to double yellow lines.

Dr Goodson said a letter from Kardos warning his car would be crushed was wrongly sent to his next door neighbour, despite his home address appearing on the car’s residents’ parking permit.

It is not known why the letter was delivered to the wrong house.

Dr Goodson is also left with £300 in unpaid parking fines – the car itself was worth about £500.

He said: “I think it’s highly irresponsible to destroy someone's property without making a serious attempt to get in contact with them.

“The letter they sent was returned so they knew something was not right. They should compensate people when they have made a mistake like this.

“I would like to know if anyone knows who moved the car and why.”

Kardos said it was ordered by police to remove the car.

A spokesman said: “We will not comment on individual cases. We operate on behalf of Thames Valley Police.”

The spokesman said that, under the Road Traffic Act, cars could be crushed seven days after removal if they were not collected.

A police spokesman said the car had been towed away because it was causing an obstruction.

He added: “The police have a duty to remove vehicles that are parked illegally and are causing a hazard.

“In this case a police community support officer requested immediate recovery of the vehicle as it was parked illegally and causing an obstruction.

“It had clearly been parked in that position for some time as there were several parking tickets displayed.

“The vehicle was towed away by Kardos on January 22.

“A letter was sent by them to the registered address of the vehicle on January 23 stating that the owner had seven days to collect the vehicle.

“The vehicle was then crushed on February 17 due to nobody coming to collect it.”

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council said parking fines were posted to Dr Goodson 28 days after the offence.