A FINCHLEY woman was "outraged" at being forced to pay £600 to Barnet Council for an alleged unpaid parking fine - or risk having her car crushed.

Journalist Louisa Barnett, 27, handed the money to the bailiffs on July 1 after she discovered her car had been clamped outside her home, in Ossulton Way.

She says she was told to pay £600 in cash within two hours or the car would be impounded, costing a further £1,000 to remove.

The council brought the action because of an alleged unpaid parking ticket from December 2008, which Ms Barnett says she never received.

She also claims she never received subsequent letters and warrants allegedly posted to her parents' address in Radlett, where the car is registered.

The council did not send any of the correspondence via recorded delivery, but has copies of five letters and a warrant of execution it says were sent between January and July this year.

A spokesman refuted Ms Barnett's claim that the payment had to be in cash, stating that "no specific method of payment was asked for" by the bailiffs.

Ms Barnett said: "Nothing was delivered. If anything comes through the post, especially something as serious as a warrant, my parents always hand it straight on to me. They're not stupid and they're not criminals.

"I don't understand why it wasn't sent recorded delivery. If it is something as serious as a warrant, which could result in bailiffs demanding hundreds of pounds in cash, that seems the least they could do.

"I had to withdraw the money from my overdraft and courier it over to my father's work within two hours, where the bailiffs could pick it up. It was absolutely disgusting."

Ms Barnett suggested the system could be made fairer by using recorded delivery to send warrants, by reducing the amount charged and by improving the council's "rude" customer service.

The council, which has a no-clamping policy for normal parking infringements, refused to comment on any of these points.

A spokesman said a discussion on whether £600 was a fair and appropriate amount to charge "distracted from the central issue", and refused to comment on whether sending warrants by recorded delivery would be considered in the future.

The "central issue", according to the council, was not ignoring letters and warrants.

Councillor Andrew Harper, cabinet member for transport, said: “Whatever one thinks of the post office, it would certainly be incredible for so many separate letters to go astray.

“Drivers obviously have a legal obligation to notify the DVLA of any change of address, partly to avoid situations like this.”