Parking attendants towed away and crushed a French woman's car by mistake.

They wrongly suspected Caroline Peytavi's car had been dumped so they slapped a notice on it warning her it would be towed away unless she informed the authorities she was the owner.

When she did call to say it was hers, they still took the car away and crushed it, despite telling her she did not have to move it as it had been legally parked.

Her French-registered Renault 4 is now a mangled lump of metal.

Ms Peytavi, originally from Lyon, has to break the news to her brother, Francois, who lent her the car.

Brighton and Hove City Council has apologised for the error and invited her to claim for compensation.

The car had been parked in the same spot, an unrestricted parking zone near Seven Dials, Brighton, since the beginning of April.

Parking attendants suspected it had been abandoned, so they served a notice on it.

Ms Peytavi rang the council to say it was hers and, being registered in France, did not need a tax disc.

Days later, however, a tow truck removed the car and she was told it had been destroyed.

Ms Peytavi, a 23-year-old media researcher, said: "The car was from about 1985 so quite old but fine. It had a completely new engine.

"It was parked in Lancaster Road which is quite far from where I live.

"One day there was a note on it which said it appeared to be abandoned and please phone within seven days or it would be towed away.

"I phoned back and explained it was my car. They said because it was French, they could not find who it belonged to.

"But the girl on the phone said I didn't have to move it because it was not illegally parked.

"A few days after, last Thursday I think, they towed it away.

"I phoned up to ask where it was and they said they weren't sure but then a man said the car had been destroyed and it was a big mistake.

"I can't believe I don't have a car any more.

"It's really depressing because we planned to take it back home to France in the summer."

A council spokesman apologised for the misunderstanding.

He said: "We have apologised to Miss Peytavi for this most unfortunate incident.

"We have invited her to put in a claim form."