A CLASSIC car enthusiast was left fuming when his beloved Beetle was threatened with the crusher.

Kitchen designer James Jeffery, 27, has been lovingly, albeit slowly, restoring Bert the Beetle for the past seven years.

Mr Jeffery's precious VW sits out of sight in a parking space behind his home in Tovil and is tinkered with most weekends.

However, Mr Jeffery and his partner Emma Harrington discovered a representative from Maidstone council had been round at 6.15am one morning and slapped a warning on engineless Bert that if was not moved by the owners, he could be taken away and destroyed.

But Bert, despite not being taxed, does have the necessary off-road documentation. Miss Harrington called the council and was told they were well within their rights to come on to private land.

She said: "They seemed to be basically saying that anyone who is restoring a car on their drive is liable to have the council pottering around and threatening to crush it."

Luckily Bert was given a reprieve after the couple faxed all their documentation to the council, but Miss Harrington is still cross at how much trouble could have been avoided.

A spokesman for Maidstone council said: "We have a duty to follow up any reports of abandoned vehicles."