A pensioner was charged almost £270 in towing fees after his car was stolen and written off by vandals.

Joseph Scott, 68, of Palmeira Square, Hove, has lost his insurance no-claims bonus because he could not afford the fees demanded to get his Austin Metro back by police-appointed Glyde Motors.

Mr Scott received a telephone call on January 16 to say his stolen Metro had been recovered and stored for a day at police-appointed Glyde Motors' Haywards Heath branch.

He was asked for £269 for the tow fees and storage of his car, which was so severely damaged by vandals it had to be scrapped.

The car, which had been stolen from outside a friend's house in Whitehawk, Brighton, was found just a mile and half away but was towed to Haywards Heath to be checked by police.

His insurance company told Mr Scott he could either pay the first £100 of the amount Glyde Motors was demanding or lose his no-claims bonus.

Mr Scott said: "I think it's disgusting. The police couldn't give a monkeys about how I'd find the money.

"I've been a member of the AA for 20 years and I could have arranged for them to tow it away if the police had even bothered to ring me. I'm trying to survive on my pension so I can't afford to pay £100.

"My car was taxed and bang up to date with its MOT, but it was towed away without me even being informed.

"It doesn't seem fair that I have my car stolen, written off and now I'm out of pocket."

A police spokesman said: "Cars are automatically towed away if they have been broken into so it doesn't encourage more crimes and this does incur a fee."

Mr Scott has now bought another second-hand car but has had to pay a substantial amount more for insurance due to losing his no-claims bonus.

Last month Councillor Bob Carden, chairman of Brighton and Hove Police Consultation Committee, called for a change in the law to allow motorists to collect their stolen cars without having to pay a release fee.

Coun Carden said: "I appreciate sometimes police will need to impound a vehicle for forensic tests but usually only when there's damage on the inside.

"I feel uneasy about the way it's costing people so much money. It's usually the people with a little old banger that this happens to and it's not worth getting the car back.

"I would desperately like to see a change, so that people have the chance to tow their cars before the police do it."