THE 10p coin in Don Quinn’s hand is how much he was ordered to pay after receiving a final notice from Colchester Amphora Trading Limited.

The letter, dated August 14, was a last reminder for his company Food and Drink Festivals UK to immediately clear the amount before a debt collection agent got involved.

Mr Quinn posted the laughable letter on Facebook where he was advised to pay in 2p monthly instalments or to not pay and to let the case go to court.

But the honourable businessman decided to instead pay cash in hand at Colchester Town Hall.

It was his only option seeing as his BACS system would not accept a 10p payment, he explained.

He said: “It’s not my role to cost the council or Amphora Trading money.

“I use their services and get a fantastic service from the council’s parks team and don’t want them to suffer in any way.

“But if I don’t pay this 10p and the council got the heavies in, it would cost you and I money.

“I just think it’s pretty shocking.”

The company director has no idea what the bill relates to but reckons the 10p has been missed from an invoice somehow.

Although the letter has been entertaining, Mr Quinn, who does a lot of business with the council-owned company, wants to highlight the seriousness of the matter.

He said: “Amphora is supposed to be a limited company but it’s still acting like a borough council.

“The borough council was notorious for making mistakes like this but Amphora is supposed to be a limited company and can’t afford to make mistakes like this because we’re now customers.

“They ask us to deal with them in a professional way and we ask for that in return.”

A spokesperson for Amphora Trading said: “We apologise to Mr Quinn for the administrative error and will be writing off the amount owed.”

READ MORE: 'FRIENDLY INVASION TO SAY THANKS FOR SAVING ME'