It was bad enough when contractors sprayed tar over Joe Bruce's car parked in the driveway of his home.

But when they later returned - without his permission - to clean off the mess, things were definitely not good.

To add insult to injury, Mr Bruce, of Lymington Avenue, Clacton, said the bodywork of his Mercedes was scratched and he is now having trouble getting reimbursed.

Mr Bruce said the original incident happened a month ago. His Mercedes car was parked in the drive and the tar was accidentally sprayed on it while he was out.

The contractors were from Scunthorpe who were carrying out work in the area for Tendring Council.

Mr Bruce said his first line of action was to contact the contractors direct.

"I telephoned them but they did not get back to me so I went to Tendring Council," he said.

"Eventually the firm themselves contacted me and said they would come down and clean the car but I told them I wanted it done properly by a Mercedes garage.

"Two days later when I was out they came back and cleaned it without my permission."

The car was left scratched and so far Mr Bruce has only been offered £150 which he says is not enough.

In despair he went back to Tendring Council where he says he was told it was not the council's problem and he would have to seek legal advice and take action against the contractors.

Mr Bruce said: "I can hardly believe what has happened - and now I am just being given the runaround.

"I have had two estimates of more than £400 but no-one seems prepared to pay for the work."

Mike Page, Tendring Council public relations manager, said today that mishaps like this did occasionally occur and it was always regrettable.

He added: "We will look into Mr Bruce's situation and endeavour to bring both parties to an amicable settlement."

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