A driver had his car towed away by the police while he waited for breakdown services to arrive - and now it has been scrapped.

Chip Ponsford walked to a phone to call out the RAC after his Ford Fiesta broke down on the A27 slip road at Patcham.

When he returned to his car he saw the police had arrived and despite his assurances that the RAC was on the way, officers had the car removed.

Mr Ponsford told officers he could not pay the £105 fee to get his car back and when he phoned the compound six weeks later to reclaim his Mark 1 Fiesta XR2, he was told it had been scrapped.

The vehicle broke down as the 30-year-old graphic designer prepared to join the eastbound carriageway of the A27.

Mr Ponsford, of Benson Road, Brighton, said: "I pulled over to the edge and it was not blocking the carriageway at all.

"I walked up the embankment and over the bridge into Patcham where I phoned the RAC.

"It took me about 20 minutes to get there and back but as I was returning I could see the police were already there and as I got there the tow truck arrived.

"I said the RAC were on their way but the police officer said they were treating it as an abandoned vehicle."

Mr Ponsford said after breaking down he did everything by the book but there were no signs saying he risked being towed away and no emergency telephones nearby.

He said: "When I broke down, I was just finishing a job in East Grinstead and had a month of my notice to work. I had to pay for trains and it is nigh on impossible to get there. I bought the car for £450 but with tax and insurance it is a lot of money down the bin."

Inspector Steve Higgs, of Sussex Police's Shoreham traffic unit, said: "This is not an uncommon occurrence unfortunately. The A23 and the A27 are designated as roads that have to be cleared in 30 minutes. That includes slip roads.

"If the vehicle is empty, our policy is that we will try to locate the driver. Most drivers will leave a note and then the officers at least know where to start looking.

"Another problem is that most recovery firms will say they will clear the vehicle within an hour."

A force spokesman said the fee for being towed by the police was the same as elsewhere at £105 and then £12 a day to be held in the compound.

A spokeswoman for the RAC said: "The police have a primary duty to remove vehicles in incidents where the presence of that vehicle causes a danger to other road users.

"We always try to get to our members as soon as possible, especially if they are in a dangerous position. The next available patrol would have been sent to him."