A MOTORIST is outraged after being wrongly arrested as a banned driver and locked up for 14 hours.

To add insult to injury, the car Martin Turner was driving was impounded and police told him he would have to fork out a £148 release fee to get it back.

However, after the Echo intervened, Essex Police have apologised to Mr Turner and agreed to pay for the release of his car from a private pound. He finally got it back yesterday.

Builder Mr Turner, 35, of Prince Avenue, Westcliff, said he was relieved, as he would not have been able to afford the storage fee the pound owner demanded - even though he had done nothing wrong.

Without his car, self-employed Mr Turner added he had been also unable to work.

Recalling his arrest, he said: "I just couldn't believe it. I've never had anything like this before in my life.

"I was pulled over wrongly and spent 14 hours in the cells. They treated me like a criminal.

"It should be the police paying for my car and bringing it to me - it's out of order."

Mr Turner was driving his red BMW on the A13 in Thurrock when he was pulled over near the A128 turning at 11.30pm on Saturday.

After showing police his driving licence, he was told he had shown up on the police national computer system as having been disqualified from driving.

He had been banned in the past, but his disqualification period had passed.

Supt Graham Carey admitted police computer records had not been updated and this had led to Mr Turner's arrest and overnight detention at Basildon police station.

He was told the next morning his licence was clean and was released.

Mr Carey apologised for the error, saying: "Essex Police is making arrangements for the vehicle to be released to him and will pay the charges.

"I'm sorry that this happened, but it was a genuine mistake on the part of the officers who arrested him.

"I've no hesitation in apologising for what was undoubtedly a very unpleasant experience for the driver."