Ian Taylor, 40, was stunned when he returned home to find the Ford Fiesta had been impounded by the DVLA outside his front door.

It was legally registered to be off the road but a clamper spotted that the rear wheel was sticking out over a footpath which adjoins his drive.

The DVLA demanded £200 to release it but Mr Taylor refused - and used a petrol-powered disc cutter to hack it in half when the clampers returned two days later to remove the car.

He then invited them to take the rear half away as it was the only section that was breaking the law.

The two startled clampers dialled 999 and five police cars containing 10 officers were dispatched to the scene along with a six-man fire crew.

But the police took no action - and the disgruntled parking wardens removed their clamp and told Ian he could keep the battered car.

Mr Taylor, a builder, said: "I had to make a point. These people are so petty and they just won't listen to you.

"The car was legally registered to be where it was - on my driveway. But they decided to make an issue of it because of two inches. It's ridiculous.

"The ticket said it was a criminal offence to damage the clamp so I didn't. It was a drastic step but I stand by my decision to do it."

A spokesman for clamping firm NCP Services, which was operating on behalf of the DVLA, condemned Mr Taylor's actions as "dangerous and highly irresponsible".

James Pritchard, communications manager, said: "One of our team spotted the vehicle and half of it was on a public highway. We decided to clamp it as it didn't have any road tax.

"We returned to find that the chap who owned it had bumped it onto his own land and had taken a rather drastic step of using a petrol-fuelled angle grinder to cut it in half. He managed to set fire to it at the same time.

"He took it upon himself to commit a serious act of vandalism. He put himself at risk and he put other people at risk."