by Thom Morris

A driver was fuming when he left his car at a service station after an accident – and somebody else scrapped it.

Jason Abbott, of Porchfield Close, Gravesend, slid in the snow in his Hyundai Accent and lost the front bumper when he went into a central reservation on the A20.

The 21-year-old was able to get it back to McDonald's at the Swanley service area, where he works, but received a phone call to say his car had vanished.

He later learned the BP garage, which is in the same service area, had sent the car for scrap.

Mr Abbott said: "I'd had an accident on March 12 when the car slid in the snow and the bumper at the front was smashed.

"It was moved back to McDonald's and there's a few guys there that said they'd be able to repair it.

"We told the BP garage not to touch the car because it wasn't dumped and was going to be repaired.

"The next thing I know, BP has phoned up a scrap firm who came down and towed it away.

"I phoned the police to report it stolen, but apparently it's a civil matter now because it wasn't stolen. BP took it and got £20 for it as well."

Jason Abbott with a picture of his car that was scrapped by BP

BP said the area is a no parking zone that requires 24-hour access for safety reasons.

The BP site staff twice spoke to police to see if they could remove the vehicle and on March 25 a breaker's yard was called to remove the vehicle.

The £20 went into BP's charity box.

Mr Abbott added: "I can't work my hours anymore because I can't get to work and can only do three days a week when I can go in with my boss. It's very frustrating and I'm losing money."

A BP spokesman said: "This was a regrettable breakdown in communications over a fortnight between the vehicle owner and his workplace, and the staff at the BP site.

"If our staff had been contacted earlier, it would have been avoided."