A businessman says he was threatened with court action after being accused of dumping an Amazon order he never received.

Matthew Edwardes was shocked when he opened his post to find a fixed penalty notice claiming he had been seen “depositing litter” at the Mick Jagger Centre, within the grounds of Dartford Grammar School, a mile from his home.

The litter was an empty Amazon box.

But although it was addressed to him at his home, also in Dartford, Mr Edwardes said he had never received it.

In fact, the father-of-three, had already approached the delivery giant about the missing parcel — an Echo Show 15 full HD 15.6’ smart display with Alexa and Fire TV costing £214 - and had been sent the item again.

The law-abiding citizen, who says he hasn’t had a parking ticket since the nineties or a speeding ticket since the noughties, had CCTV footage of him parking his car outside his London office on February 19 — the day he was alleged to have abandoned the distinctive delivery box.

The video also shows him leaving his car and going into the office in the morning and his distinctive silver Porsche parked in the same spot all day, before he is then seen leaving again in the evening.

But according to the official letter from Dartford council, Mr Edwardes was “witnessed” by a named officer at 10.19am on the same day leaving the courier firm’s box outside the music centre in Oakfield Lane, Dartford.

No photo evidence was provided to Mr Edwardes of him committing the offence.

The 44-year-old has had the issue hanging over him for almost three months after receiving the first letter on February 21.

He said he spent hours on the phone and online trying to appeal the fine but was met with dead ends at every turn.

Mr Edwardes contacted both Dartford council and Kingdom, the company involved in implementing the littering fines, leaving messages and having conversations with “bots”.

He eventually gave up and just hoped the issue would go away.

But on April 29 he received a stark final reminder through his door warning him that if he did not pay the £75 penalty he would be forced to attend court and risk paying out £2,500 if he was found guilty. He was given seven days to pay up.

The parcel was seen abandoned one mile from his home and he questioned why he would have gone all that way to deposit it rather than place it in his household bin or the three large bins at his London office.

“Common sense would say that it would be easier to dump this small box in my recycle bin rather than traipse across Dartford to dispose of it,” he said.

Matthew, a director of electrical company Edwardes Brothers, said the whole issue has been very stressful.

“I couldn’t believe it when it dropped through my door. I never go to the Mick Jagger Centre or even that way into Dartford.

“They sent me a picture of the box but not of me dumping it.

“There was no way I was going to pay it but I couldn’t get through to anyone to appeal.

He added: “I first tried to contact Dartford Council regarding this and was told to call a company called Kingdom, so I called Kingdom, but they have no one there who deals with appeals and point you to a web portal where you plead your case with a bot and are told someone will contact you within 14 days.

“I still haven’t received a response, just a final notice letter that I will be taken to court and fined up to £2,500 plus court costs when found guilty.

He added: “It seems very much a case of guilty until proven innocent with regards to this as per the advice on Dartford council’s website.”

The website states: “There are no formal grounds of appeal against a fixed penalty notice”. It also states: “This is because a fixed penalty notice is an invitation for you to effectively ‘pay off’ your liability prior to prosecution.”

When Mr Edwardes looked up what happened if you did not think you had committed an offence the website adds: “If you do not agree you committed the offence for which you received the fixed penalty notice then the matter will be dealt with through formal prosecution via the courts.”

As a last resort, he contacted KentOnline in the hope something could be done.

We contacted Dartford Council and within 24 hours Mr Edwardes received an email telling him his fine had been rescinded

The local authority said it paused the fixed penalty notice once Mr Edwardes’ concerns were raised. It has since been cancelled.

It also confirmed it is not the case that residents have to go to court to appeal a fine as there is “a well-established appeal process”.

Mr Edwardes said he feels sorry for people who are too scared to fight the system and will pay the £75 to avoid spending a day in court and paying the £2,500 even if they are innocent.

“It’s so unfair,” he added.

A spokesman for Amazon: “We’re looking into this with our delivery service provider.”

When approached, Kingdom said: “We welcome action being taken to reduce fly-tipping and littering in these communities.

“We will always look into any instances where people say they have been unfairly fined. In this instance as it is as a live case, we are unable to comment on it at this time.

“However, we want to assure the public that we take all concerns seriously and have established a robust process for addressing them.

“If any member of the public wishes to lodge a representation against being issued a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) or wishes to raise any concerns, we encourage them to do so by emailing Dartford.Council@lasupport.co.uk or going to www.lasupport.co.uk/Dartford for initial support.

“These representations will be thoroughly reviewed by an independent team to ensure fairness and transparency.”