A MOTORIST was left without his car after a case of mistaken identity prompted police to order a recovery truck to take it away.

Paul Harrison, of Dorset Avenue, Darwen, returned from work to discover his Fiat Tempra had gone from the roadside and he believed it had been stolen.

Neighbours told him they had seen it taken away on a recovery truck.

It was later revealed that police had given the wrong registration number to the recovery company.

Today police said the mix-up began when a caller reported the car as abandoned but officers wrote down an incorrect registration number.

Inspector Stuart Bruce said the mix-up was intensified when the number written down turned out to be that of a Fiat stolen in London.

He added: "Because the wrong number was given we didn't have a door number to knock on."

He said error was uncovered was made when Mr Harrison called to report his car stolen.

An informal apology was made to Mr Harrison by the police communi-cations department and he has been advised of a complaints procedure.

Mr Harrison, a joiner, said the incident had upset him and his pregnant wife and he claimed the car had been returned damaged.

He added: "My daughter discovered the car was missing when she got home from school and rang me to see if I'd taken it to the garage.

"I reported it missing at about 5.30pm on Monday but it wasn't discovered a mistake had been made until Tuesday afternoon. I got the car back about 6pm on Tuesday.

"It already had a loose bumper, which I was repairing, but when I got it back it had smashed lights and scratches on it, which were not there before. It is ridiculous.

"I have had to take two days off work to try and sort this out and it has caused a lot of stress."

Inspector Bruce added: "The issue is the condition of the car. He's saying it was not damaged prior to removal but was when returned." He said he would be speaking to officers involved and the removal firm before contacting Mr Harrison.