A SELF-employed Prestatyn man has called for a change in the law after falling foul of vehicle ringing.
Tony Flynn's livelihood has been put at risk after he bought a van on internet auction site eBay last October for his egg delivery business, only to find he had been a victim of vehicle identity theft.
Despite paying for a HPI vehicle check he was asked by the DVLA to bring the van to Chester for a routine check, where it was confiscated by Cheshire Police after it was found to have been stolen six years ago.
Mr Flynn, 55, of Grosvenor Road, said: "It was a total shock. I was told it was a check about a change of colour. To have the authority to take the vehicle there and then when it is your livelihood is unbelievable. There is nothing you can do.
"I explained to the police it was my livelihood and by confiscating it they were putting my business at risk. It was the last thing I imagined and in fact had only just put over £64 of diesel in on my way to Chester.
"I think this is an unfair law where a citizen has no rights."
The van had been stolen and the chassis number and number plate had been swapped before the vehicle was sold on as legitimate.
Ringing, where identification numbers from written-off vehicles are used to disguise stolen cars, accounted for a quarter of the 147,342 cars stolen in the UK in 2008/09.
Mr Flynn, a father of five, said: "The insurance company as promised have given me first refusal, which of course I want, to get it back and continue to build my business.
"There is no way you can protect yourself against this. There is no insurance cover. There should be a change in the law. There should be a procedure."
Mr Flynn who set up The Prestatyn Free Range Egg Company in 2008 has been relying on friends to lend him vehicles to carry on his business.
A spokeswoman for Cheshire Police said the vehicle was seized on January 12 and that enquiries are ongoing as it is believed the vehicle had previously been stolen.