Bricklayer Barry Greenaway was outraged to be told he would have to fork out £123 to retrieve his stolen car.

Barry, of Wains Road, Dringhouses, had his car stolen from his drive a week ago and reported the theft to the police when he woke up and realised it had gone.

The car, a G-registration Ford Escort, was found about a mile away from Barry's house, but the police took it to the Link compound on the Hopgrove Roundabout before phoning him to tell him where it was, and inform him that it would cost him £123 to get it back.

North Yorkshire police today defended the charge as part of a new policy.

They said it was better for drivers to have stolen cars moved to safety instead of them being left where they had been abandoned.

Officers said the costs should be covered by the motorist's insurance in most cases - but as Barry's insurance policy has a £175 excess, the cost of retrieving the car falls completely on him.

He said: "They told me it would cost me £123 plus £8.50 a day storage.

"I was still in shock about losing my car and I asked them why and they said it was the policy."

Barry, who drives to Hull every day to make a little extra money to support his young family, complained to the police.

He said: "It's worse because Beth's car was stolen three months ago and we had to pay £180 to get that fixed when it was found.

"She had a call to come and pick it up, she didn't have to pay for it to be recovered then.

"I've just spent ten weeks travelling to Hull every day for a bit extra a week and I might as well have stayed in York and spent more time with my family.

"It's a ridiculous way to be treating the person who is supposed to be the victim."

Chief Inspector Andy Bell, of York Police, said North Yorkshire Police had introduced the policy of automatically recovering cars this year.

He said: "It's the policy of most police forces around the country.

"We don't leave them at the roadside any more as they get stolen again or have parts taken out of them.

"We arrange for them to be recovered and examined, then returned to the owner. There is a cost but it's generally met by the insurance company.

"We used to contact the owners and give them the choice of whether they wanted to arrange for recovery or let us recover it.

"But often, by the time they went to it, it had been wrecked so now we recover them for the safety of the driver and the car."

Updated: 08:50 Wednesday, April 18, 2001