A BROMLEY council official laughed at the plight of a camper van owner whose vehicle was crushed.

German doctor Anna Mazick, 31, called the police when she returned from work to her Beckenham home on March 14 and found the van was missing.

Police knew nothing of the 1989 brown Volkswagen's whereabouts and suggested she call the council.

Anna's boyfriend Philip Mairs, a doctor at King's College Hospital, then had an “unbelievable” conversation with an official in the council refuse department in charge of removing abandoned vehicles.

He said: “When I told them the registration number, they burst out laughing and told me the van had been crushed it was outrageous.”

He was told the council only checked with the DVLA before making their decision despite the van having German registration plates.

They told Dr Mairs, every vehicle visiting the UK must be registered when it enters the country.

But the DVLA later informed him visitors staying for less than six months only needed register their vehicles in their own country.

Dr Mazick's personal possessions, which she kept in the van, were also destroyed by the contractors, who the council is refusing to name.

Dr Mazick, of Cuxhaven near Hamburg, is furious.

“I don't know how they can think this is funny,” she stormed, “I want them to pay for their mistake.”

Bromley Council has even refused to give written notification of their action, or return the now cuboid camper, which was parked in Limes Road, 100 yards from Dr Mair's Chancery Lane home.

When Dr Mairs demanded to know the name of the contractor, he was left “gobsmacked” by the response.

He said: “The woman I spoke to seemed to find it amusing I required this information and laughed at the idea I would be contacting a solicitor.”

Bromley Council's director of environmental services Gordon Haywood, said a notice was placed on the windscreen after it was reported abandoned in January.

The couple, who used the car every day, say they saw no notice.

Mr Haywood said they were awaiting Dr Mazick's formal complaint.

“We will take details and work out a solution from there,” he added.