Ben Forrer,who is a 33 year old fireman, visited the recycling plant at Longford, Coventry in his van on behalf of a friend to dispose of an old cooker which was the environmentally thing to do and hopefully make a little money doing so- £10 to be precise.

Having unloaded the oven from the £5,000 Citroen Relay van he went to speak with the manager in his office. Three minutes later he came out of the office but could not see the van where he had originally parked it.

The first thing he did was check to see if the van keys were in his pocket thinking he may have left them in the ignition and someone had moved the van out of the way.

Then he started to look around the yard becoming more concerned.

Then concern turned to horror when he looked skyward to see the 12-year-old van hanging from a crane right above a crushing machine swinging about. He ran through the yard shouting to the staff to stop what they were doing but by then it was too late.

When it was lowered to the ground he discovered that a mechanical grabber had already crushed the roof and smashed the windows.

Staff had mistaken the van for scrap but admitted that they thought it strange that the van was taxed and the tyres were in good condition.

The mishap took place a few days ago at a site operated by Sita UK who is a waste management company.

Mr Forrer said: It’s an absolute wreck. The roof’s caved in and some of the panels are smashed, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

‘There could have been a dog or a child in a car seat in there.

‘The yard has already changed its procedures and started spray painting the word “scrap” on the side of cars that are supposed to be crushed.’

Mr Forrer is claiming £5,000 on Sita’s insurance.

A Sita UK spokesperson said: ‘Our insurance company is now working to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.’