Council workers have admitted they were "over zealous" after mistakenly crushing a woman's car.

Wendy Richardson's A-registered Ford Fiesta had been parked outside her home in Thompson Road, Hollingdean, Brighton, when it was towed away and destroyed.

She had bought the untaxed hatchback several weeks earlier for £675 and told the council it would be taken off the road once her driveway had been repaired.

But the car ended up on a hitlist of "abandoned" vehicles after an administrative error.

Having taken the car, the council then made the mistake of destroying it too quickly.

Usually owners are given a week to come forward but on this occasion it was destroyed within a matter of days.

When Ms Richardson noticed her car was missing, it was already too late.

The 38-year-old said her partner Wayne Terry, 25, who works as a security guard, had lost work as a result of the mistake and said offers of £150 compensation were pathetic.

She said: "I am disgusted. There was a new CD player in the car, about 15 CDs and a pair of trainers but none of these has been included in the compensation.

"The amount the council has offered us is totally pathetic, when you add loss of earnings, so I have written saying we are not prepared to accept the offer.

"As soon as I noticed my car was missing I got on the phone to the council but unfortunately it was too late and it had already been crushed.

"They effectively took away our livelihood. The whole thing seems like an incredible waste of resources."

A council spokesman said: "Officers thought her car was abandoned as it was untaxed and although she came forward to claim it within seven days, the case was processed too quickly and unfortunately her car was crushed.

"We apologise for the mistake and have offered to refund Ms Richardson the value of her car, which according to independent guidance is worth £150.

"Brighton and Hove City Council is committed to removing abandoned vehicles from city streets as quickly as possible but on this occasion it appears we were a little over zealous and made a mistake."