A man's stolen Honda car almost faced the crusher because he could not afford to pay garage charges incurred while the police dusted it for fingerprints.

Jadave Khira, 38, a father of three, agreed to let officers take his F-Reg Honda Ballade for forensic tests when it was found after being stolen near his flat at Regency Court, Bradford.

But, when he rang to arrange to collect the blue car, which had just survived joyriders for a second time, Mr Khira was told he would have to pay £150 to have it released with the charge later spiralling to £370 because of storage fees.

He claims he was not told the job would involve an initial £105 recovery fee plus £12-a-day storage charges and that he would be picking up the tab.

If he had collected the car from the roadside, as he suggested to officers, it would not have cost him a penny.

Police contractor SOS Garages, of Marsh Grove, which has compounded the vehicle, warned him that if it did not receive payment, the car would be crushed.

But Mr Khira, a machine operator, said he could not afford to pay the costs, and that the car, which he has owned for ten years, is only valued at £100.

Yesterday, after hearing his complaints, the police stressed they were acting within their rights - but that, on this occasion, they would pick up the tab.

He said: "I got my car back from the thieves but I couldn't get it back from the police. I am a victim of a crime but I ended up being told to pay for it. I offered to pick the car up myself but they said they wanted to fingerprint it. Then they told me it was going to cost me all this money to get it back. It wasn't fair, I couldn't afford to pay.

"It is not right that garages are making profits while the victims of crime are having to cough up money like this."

Since the theft of his car on December 30, Mr Khira has had to make a daily three- mile round trip to work on foot.

All drivers whose cars are recovered by police are liable for the charges but their insurance companies usually pay the tab. Because Mr Khira only has third party insurance, he is liable for the bill himself.

Denise Raven, regional spokesperson for the AA, said more and more motorists could become victims of the recovery system as car crime rates grow.

"The difficulty of this peculiarity of motoring law is that if he was fully insured it wouldn't cost him anything because his insurance would cover the cost. The difficulty comes when you have only got third party insurance."

Malcolm Tarling, a spokesman for the Association of British Insurers, said: "We had discussions with the police and agreed a set of charges for recovery. If the officers have not told Mr Khira about the charges, that is something he should take up with his local police force."

A spokesman for SOS garages said: "We were asked by the Vehicle and Recovery Unit in Wakefield to pick up the car from Pearson Street in Bradford. Mr Khira is being charged for recovery and storage."

He added that usually the garage holds on to recovered vehicles for two weeks, and that he had had Mr Khira's car for 18 days.

A police spokesman said: "Having regard to all the individual circumstances in this particular case, it has been decided that Mr Khira may have his vehicle returned at no cost to himself."