A man says he has been hounded by Harrow Borough Council for a parking ticket issue to his vehicle’s previous owner.

Zakaria Alhaad of A to Z Car Hire Ltd has had his car removed by bailiffs and is in a long running battle with the council over the parking fine.

His business involves renting cars to taxi drivers but was told he had to pay the fines for a previous owner of his vehicle.

The parking ticket was issued in 2012 before Mr Alhaad owned the car and before his company even existed.

He said: “I have not been treated fairly at all. I feel like I have been bullied by the council and I have been made to feel like I have done something wrong when it wasn’t my fault.

“It has really hurt my business and I lost one of my cars for eight months. It has been really stressful and I didn’t know what to do.”

The car has since been returned and Mr Alhaad’s fight for compensation is being helped by parking campaigner Derek Dishman, also known as Mr Mustard.

He said: “This is one of the longest running issues I have had to deal with. Harrow Council has made the mistake but they are trying to front it up and hoping it will go away.

“They should do the right thing and cancel the ticket and pay Mr Allaad compensation for the loss to his company.

“This case shows the system is wrong and I am sure there will be others in a similar situation who have just paid because they are not prepared to fight.”

A spokeswoman for Harrow Council said the case has been ongoing for some time and had asked the car owner on multiple occasions to provide proof the vehicle’s ownership had changed.

They added the Local Government Ombudsman has already investigated this in full and found Harrow acted properly and responsibly.