A DISABLED pensioner had to pay £150 to get his legally-parked car back - after it was towed away following a nearby accident.

Bulent Selen, 69, got a call from his wife after traffic built up following a vegetable fat spill in the on the busy A1306, at Purfleet, following a crash between two lorries.

It led to the closure of the arterial road in both directions.

Mr Selen's blue Lada was parked on a single yellow line outside his house in nearby London Road - the same space he uses every day, with his blue badge displayed in the windscreen.

He arrived home to find his car being towed less than a mile up the road to the Garrison Estate where he had to pay to get it back.

Mr Selen said: "£150 is a lot of money to me. I'm angry at the police - my car didn't need to be moved, they could have diverted traffic another way.

"I'm also angry the recovery driver drove my car off as he didn't need to, I was there.

"I drove my car back to my house and parked it back in the same place, so why did they move it? People who aren't permit holders park all over Botany Way so why didn't they move those cars?

"I have a right to park there - the police moved my car, why should I have to pay?"

Mr Selen paid Canute Haulage Group to get his car back and has now received £40 back from the company.

Essex police spokesperson Tabitha Wilson said: "A blue Lada was parked on a single yellow line in the road in a position preventing traffic from being diverted away from the scene.

"The officer sought to make contact with the registered owner to ask him to move the vehicle, and after leaving messages waited for about an hour. There was really no option but to arrange for the vehicle to be recovered so traffic could flow more easily.

"Mr Selen arrived as the car was in the process of being taken away and made arrangements directly with the recovery vehicle driver as to where he wanted the vehicle taken to."