Car wash worker left incredibly rare Mercedes 'written off' after being paid £30 to valet it

A car wash worker crashed a customer's classic Mercedes he had dropped off for a valet after he took it for a 60-mile drive, later saying he swerved to avoid a MOUSE, a court heard. Owner Kevin Murphy, 77, described the rare and pristine 1992 550E Merc as 'a cherished and prized possession'.

Omid Abas, 41, was assigned to give the vehicle a £30 'super valet' but instead, the court heard he took it for a 90-minute spin from the car wash in Runcorn to his home in Stockport and back again, crashing it just five miles short of his return.

In subsequent police interviews Abas, of Colborne Avenue, Reddish, claimed the crash happened when he swerved to avoid a mouse in the road, a prosecutor said. The court heard thousands of pounds worth of 'significant' damage was caused to the car.

Mr Murphy returned to pick up the vehicle - one of only 29 models imported to the UK - only to find it had virtually been written off in the smash, with one wheel virtually horizontal. Police inquiries revealed Abas had not passed a UK driving test.

In a statement, property landlord Mr Murphy said the 30-year-old blue car, which has around 26,000 miles on the clock, was usually chauffeur driven and added: ''It was a cherished and prized possession. Every serviced piece of work was always done on it by Mercedes and I devoted a lot of my effort to keeping the car in pristine condition.

"When I learned of the damage I was incredibly upset. While I do not feel vulnerable or intimidated as a result of this, I am now incredibly cautious about who I trust my vehicles with. With regards to any other changes to my quality of life, I had to devote time to locate another vehicle to obtain spare parts from. This is a very time consuming and difficult process.