A student has been left without her car after Oxford City Council workers towed it away to a yard where it was stripped of parts.

Samantha Dancy, 21, who is studying French and Geography at Oxford Brookes University, parked her car in Cheney Lane, Headington, and left for a week-long field trip in Ireland.

But when she returned, she was shocked to discover that her H-reg Citroen AX had been removed. After numerous calls to the police and to the city council, she discovered that her car had been broken into by thieves.

Officers inspected the car on September 19 and reported it as an abandoned vehicle.

They placed a seven-day notice on it, which means that the owner has seven days to claim the vehicle.

But when Miss Dancy returned, on September 22, it had already been towed away and taken to the yard in Bicester.

To make matters worse, she says she has now received a letter from the city council to inform her that she is being charged £100 to cover the cost of her vehicle's removal.

Miss Dancy said: "The whole thing has been a complete nightmare. I have made endless calls to both the police and the council to try to establish what went wrong, but so far I have not got anywhere."

Miss Dancy now wants the council to pay compensation.

Jon Bilson, the council's policy and development manager, said: "We have carried out a detailed investigation of this case and the correct procedure was followed.

"The vehicle was removed at the request of the police as it was in a dangerous condition and a risk to public safety."