I left my Merc with airport parking firm – I returned from hols to find it trashed with extra 500 MILES on the clock

A CHAUFFEUR is out of pocket after leaving his car with an airport parking firm - only to come back and find it filthy and damaged.

Furious Steve Rogers believes the company at Gatwick airport also drove his Mercedes V-class for almost 500 miles while he was away.

And he accuses them of landing him with a £60 parking fine while he was on holiday visiting his daughter in Turkey.

He says he came back to find a door dented, inside carpets covered with dirt and grass, McDonald’s receipts strewn around the car and dash cams disconnected.

And when he started the engine running the fuel tank light illuminated, meaning he needed to buy petrol as soon as he left the car park.

Mr Rogers says there had been half a tank remaining when he originally left it at Gatwick, paying £199 for the parking service.

The 65-year-old from Chingford in Essex has been pursuing My Parking Limited for an apology and compensation.

The “meet and greet” airport parking firm - based in Hayes in west London - faced similar complaints from another holiday-maker last month.

Lynn Stone, 69 and from Lincolnshire, returned from a trip to North Africa to find her car now had an additional 200 miles on the clock – as well as being far dirtier than when entrusting it to the company.

Mr Rogers has now told Sun Online: “I was searching for parking at Gatwick and stupidly I went cheap.

“When I finally got the car back, it looked like it had been parked in a chicken coop – it was filthy all over.

“There were an extra 473 miles on the meter, they’d disabled my dash cam and thrown the SD card away, the fusebox compartment was open and the inside was filthy.

“McDonald’s receipts had been left into the car, and it turned out there was a parking ticket I had to pay from when I’d been away in Turkey at the time.

“I’ve not been able to work until it’s all been valeted and fixed.”