Episode 2 The Sheriffs Are Coming

Meet the sheriffs...

Let's go and introduce ourselves.

We're High Court enforcement officers. We're here to execute a writ.

..they're the men whose job it is to get you your money back...

-It's an offence to stop me.

-..if you've been ripped off and don't know where to turn...

I'm not waiting any more.

I'm ordered to seize goods to clear this debt, clear this place out.

..if you've been to court but still not been paid what you're owed.

Just tell me who you are.

This is an absolute crock. You need to pay this.

The High Court Enforcement Officers are charged by law

to recover what a court says is rightfully yours.

I've seized your car, sir.

You can let us in the door or we'll go through the window.

It's time to call the sheriffs.

I've collected 42 grand.

Coming up...

the clamping firm that took these men and their car for a ride.

It felt like we were being robbed.

Can the sheriffs get the clampers to pay up what they owe?

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

The dispute with a cafe owner which turned a village on its head.

Suddenly she decided if she didn't have a contract with me,

she could get away with not paying me.

It's a storm in a teacup for the sheriffs...

This is an absolute crock.

..and the sheriffs go in search of some Top Gear.

If you follow us in. We're seizing a Lamborghini.

On the road this morning, sheriffs Marc Newton

and Tony Smith are on their way to a North London car pound.

They've been tasked with trying to get money owed to

a member of the public by a clamping firm, Newline Parking Management.

And advanced word on what they'll find when they get there

is not encouraging.

Client advised us there are dogs at the pound.

They're going to be up for having an argument, I would imagine.

We'll just have to see how it goes, really.

The man they're on their way to help is IT consultant Dominic Marks.

He's from Bristol, but today he and friend Tim

are looking for a car parking space in London.

Constant residents' parking or ticket meters.

He's being extra careful to make sure he parks in the right place.

Permit holders only.

Because a few months ago, when he parked in the wrong one,

it led to a run-in with a clamping company so serious,

it's seen him go through the courts and brought him to the sheriffs

to recover the £1,500 he's rightfully owed.

Dominic's problems started when he came to North London

with friend Tim one Saturday to go to a party.

Looking for somewhere to park,

they found Shelford Place in Stoke Newington.

This is where we parked the car.

Their parking space is now covered by a building site,

but at the time, it was clear of yellow lines.

The warning signs on the walls were also absent then.

It seemed like a great place to park.

It was an empty little road and was clear,

so we found a place, parked the car.

After a fun night at the party,

Dominic and Tim stayed over at a friend's.

They came back the next day to retrieve the car.

Only problem was, it had disappeared.

It took a while to actually register that it was gone.

I kind of got there and I thought, "Have I just gone mad?"

And, "Did I actually park on a road that looks very similar to this?"

Initially we thought it had been stolen,

and then having found one sign in the dark, miles up a wall,

that gave us a clue that the car had been towed.

Dominic's car had been clamped and towed by Newline Parking Management

for parking on private land - and unfairly so, in his opinion.

These signs when we got here were either ripped off

or they'd been whitewashed.

There were no signs that were obviously visible.

What we found was the one sign that was hopelessly inadequate.

It was in the dark.

There was no light near it.

It was about three metres or so up the wall.

And it was hidden behind a hoarding for a construction site.

Dominic called Newline on the phone number on their sign.

A man answering told him they were shut on a Sunday,

and that the earliest he could collect his car was Monday.

He also learned that he'd be charged an overnight fee in addition

to the clamping and towing costs.

A total of £467.

We had jobs to go to.

We had to find somewhere to stay late at night on a Sunday,

which was a real pain.

And then we had to get up and travel halfway across London

in order to actually get the car back.

When they finally visited Newline's car pound, Dominic

and Tim raised complaints about how they'd been clamped and towed.

I asked to see any documentation

which said they had the right to tow cars from Shelford Place,

and he said to me that it's client confidentiality,

which is a strange thing.

I don't know if that's legal, but it doesn't seem right

that someone could anonymously give permission to take out an action,

that you wouldn't be able to see any proof of that.

Effectively, he could tow cars from anywhere and use that excuse,

and just say, "I have permission but I'm not able

to show it to you because it's my client's confidentiality."

Dominic and Tim paid the money unwillingly and under protest.

When we handed over the money, it felt like being robbed,

and we had no recourse against them at all.

It felt incredibly unjust, like they were bullying us

and we couldn't do anything to combat the situation.

Worst Monday ever, for sure.

Disgusted at how he'd been treated,

Dominic brought a county court claim against the clampers.

Newline contested the case in writing

but failed to show up in court.

Nevertheless, Dominic and Tim had to go in front of a judge.

The first thing we asked them to establish was

is this a private road, and can you present some sort of proof

that the person who does own the road has given you permission?

And they never submitted any documentation to the court

which actually showed that was the case.

The judge ruled in Dominic's favour.

With damages and court fees on top of what he'd paid Newline,

he was awarded £1,515.80.

But despite this, Newline still haven't paid up.

Dominic's last hope of seeing his money lies with the sheriffs.

Arriving at Newline's North London compound,

the only thing Marc and Tony find is a large yellow gate.

Tony volunteers to make first contact.

-Anyone there?

-Yeah.

-What, people?

-Yeah. Hello?

Marc decides to move the van so it's not clamped.

Tony's knock, meanwhile, draws out an employee.

A High Court writ has been issued

against Newline Parking Management and the vehicle pound.

From whom? Who's issued it?

We're High Court sheriffs.

What's he say, Tone?

Coming back. He's putting the dog away.

While the dog's removed, a woman from Newline

comes to the gate to find out who the sheriffs are.

We're High Court enforcement officers.

Here's the writ from the court.

The woman asks what the sheriffs want.

When they tell her that with court fees, sheriffs' fees and interest,

they're now looking to collect £2,400,

she tells them they're crazy.

At this stage, the writ is live and it would need to be paid.

You need to deal with this today, while we're here.

No, we stay here until it's done.

While they wait, they size up the premises.

Sheriffs can legally climb perimeter walls or fences

to get into a property.

And at a commercial premises like this,

they can even force entry if need be.

But neither Marc nor Tony fancy climbing the yellow fence.

That's that razor stuff, isn't it?

Cut you to pieces.

After a quarter of an hour of waiting,

the woman comes back to tell the sheriffs some unexpected news.

The clampers are willing to pay.

It's a massive breakthrough for Marc and Tony, but there's a problem.

The woman wants to write them a cheque.

We don't take cheques, babe.

Debit card, credit card. Bank transfer you can do.

She tells them that, as they won't take a cheque,

they'll have to wait for her brother to come back for payment.

All right, no worries.

They boys are told the brother will be back in one hour.

They sit in the van and wait.

It's a bit of a difficult one,

because our only way we can get in there

is going over the fence, but it's quite a tricky fence to climb over

with all the razor wire on the top.

Also the other side of the gate is a big Rottweiler.

At the moment we're sitting tight.

It's better to try and do it the nicer way.

We don't want to turn up here and start climbing over a fence if they're happy to open it.

And they haven't not opened the gate to us, they have every time.

Someone's just pulled up now, so hopefully this is the guy.

Two clampers emerge wanting a word with the sheriffs.

Whoa, whoa.

Doesn't matter who you are. Don't care who you are, don't record me.

The clampers decide to continue discussions inside their premises,

and unsurprisingly, we're not allowed to follow them.

Soon after, Marc is back.

We just had two guys pull up who've gone in,

who I think are the lady we spoke to's brothers.

And they've just asked us in, but when we've both gone to walk in,

they've created a bit of a fuss. So Tony's gone in on his own to deal with it.

He's big enough to look after himself in there if there's any trouble, so we'll see.

Hopefully when he comes out in five minutes he'll have the payment

and it'll all be done and dealt with and we can get on our way.

After half an hour of high-level negotiations, Tony emerges.

He's got a smile on his face, but he's left something else behind.

(BLEEP) I left the card machine in there, what a (BLEEP)! Hello?

Hello. I left me machine in there. Yeah, me card machine.

See you later, boys, have a good day. Take care, yeah?

It might have taken them nearly two hours,

but Tony just collected payment in full.

They know the score, we know the score.

Just a little game, innit? And then they paid, so.

Nothing major. No aggro.

One of them was a bit chirpy, but other than that, rest of 'em are all right.

All paid up, all done, no dramas.

It's a hell of a result for the sheriffs.

Payment in full from a potentially tricky job.

More importantly, it means Dominic Marks

finally getting the cheque in the post he'd hoped for.

It came to a lot of money. It was about £1,600,

which is... Well, it's a lot of money for me.

I'm sure it's a lot of money for most people.

And that had a big positive effect on my finances.

That was a very good day.

Put the cheque in the bank and drink a toast to the sheriffs

and blow a raspberry at Newline, I guess.

Sheriffs never give up on a job unless they absolutely have to.

And so it is that today, sheriff Pete Spencer is in Blackburn,

about to breathe new life into a cold case.

Pete's been chasing a debt on behalf of a claimant

for the last six months.

Total outstanding for this one is £40,657.91.

I've visited two private addresses previously with no joy.

One was an old previous address where he'd left,

and the other one, we didn't have any reply back.

Pete knows the debtor has a valuable asset -

nothing less than a Lamborghini Diablo convertible sports car,

but every time he's tried to seize it,

it's been moved before he's had chance.

Until now, that is.

Pete's had intelligence as to the current whereabouts of the car.

If it is there, we will be seizing the vehicle and removing today.

We've got a value on it at around £58-60,000 second-hand,

so, you know, it's going to cover the outstanding.

The garage he believes the Lamborghini to be at

is not connected to the writ,

but, even so, Pete's concerned about how much commotion

his attempt to seize such a valuable car is going to cause.

Potentially there might be trouble.

I mean, we've got trouble where someone's arguing about a £300 car,

never mind a £70,000 car.

So potentially there could be issues here

which is why, if the vehicle is there,

I'll ring the police to get their attendance.

With that in mind, Pete heads into the garage.

Will the Lamborghini supercar be there?

Not wanting to draw attention to Pete,

we keep the camera out of sight.

Yes, we've got the car. Drive back out again.

Hi, Lawrence. This Lamborghini's here.

We've been in, drove round, pulled back out again,

but obviously it's there. So we need to be taking it, don't we?

Pete gets the green light from the office to seize the car.

But it's not as simple as walking in and taking it.

Time to call in some help.

Good afternoon. I'm an enforcement officer for the High Court.

We've got a vehicle that we have seized previously,

and we've found it again after looking for six months.

Can I request police attendance?

There will be a breach of the peace.

Yes. It's a Lamborghini Diablo.

We're seizing it on behalf of the High Court.

Could you put it down as urgent, please?

The longer I sit here, the chances are it could move,

and I can't physically stop it from driving off,

as we've seen it drive off before.

While he waits for the police,

Pete ensures he's got everything he needs in place.

Hiya, Dave, are you all right?

I might have a removal for you to do in Blackburn

if you can do it for us.

Lamborghini.

(LAUGHS) Lamborghini.

It's convertible.

No, potentially we won't have the keys.

But nearly an hour since he called them,

Pete's still waiting for the police.

If the car were to be driven off now,

there'd be nothing he could do to stop it.

Later, we'll see if Pete can get his hands on that Lamborghini.

Pete's Lamborghini is just one of over 70,000 High Court writs

executed by sheriffs in England and Wales every year.

We cannot leave until that money hits our bank account.

Anyone that manages to obtain a County Court Judgment of over £600

can upgrade it to the High Court to get a writ.

Only sheriffs can execute High Court writs,

and it gives them more powers than County Court bailiffs.

I'm Mr Grix. I'm an enforcement officer.

I'm here to execute a High Court writ.

These days, a High Court writ costs £60.

If the sheriffs are successful,

there's nothing more for the client to pay.

If they're unsuccessful, the only cost is a £60 admin fee.

The latest sheriffs hoping to successfully enforce a writ

are Lawrence Grix and Kev McNally, on the M4, heading for Somerset.

It's a long old trip for Lawrence,

and his mood and powers of pronunciation are not at their best.

We're on our way to a place called...

Nunney, I believe you pronounce it. Or is it Nooney? In Somerset.

We've got a defendant called Cafe de la Mere, Nunney Ltd.

Nunney may look like the quintessential English village,

but for local resident Francis Hayden it's turned into a nightmare,

since he's fallen into dispute with the owner of the cafe in question.

The Haydens' problems began after wife Keren's catering experience

was brought to the attention of the new owner of the village cafe, Eleanor Harris.

Looking for a new manager for it,

Francis and his wife were invited to discuss running it.

They both had big ambitions.

We wanted the cafe to be fantastic.

We wanted to pull people in from all over the region,

wanted it to be famous for its atmosphere and the food.

Supply teacher and keen musician Francis

planned to run the cafe with Keren until the start of the new school year,

when he'd return to teaching.

They made it clear to Mrs Harris that they would only

take on the cafe if they could run it together, at least to start with.

She didn't exactly say yes.

She didn't say no, because Keren made it clear

that unless she accepted that proposal, she wouldn't do it.

So what she said was something like, "OK, let's get on with it."

With the cafe owner seeming to agree to their plan,

Francis and Keren threw themselves into

getting Cafe de la Mere ready for business.

We had about four days to get it up and running,

which involved decorating it, checking out the equipment,

buying new equipment, buying stock, devising recipes, cooking...

The cafe seemed to be doing well, but two weeks after opening,

Mrs Harris called a meeting with the Haydens.

She saw things very differently.

Her opening line was

"The food is good, but it's the only thing that is."

And then she started reading

this prepared, printed-out list of complaints.

And we looked at each other and we could not work out what was going on.

It was like we'd slipped into another dimension somehow.

Even worse, she told Francis she couldn't afford for both of them

to run the cafe, and that he'd have to leave.

Unhappy at this, Keren then resigned, too.

The Haydens submitted final invoices and waited for payment.

But a few days later, Mrs Harris informed them

that in her opinion she had never employed Francis,

and wasn't prepared to pay him for the work he'd done.

At that point, suddenly she decided if she didn't have a contract with me,

she could get away with not paying me.

We'd been relying on this for an income stream through the summer.

I wasn't going to get any supply work through the summer, that's for sure.

And so we were kind of stranded, and she knew that.

With Mrs Harris still refusing to pay,

the Haydens decided they had no alternative

but to go to an employment tribunal.

The judge wanted to know whether there had been

an implied contract between the two parties.

Mrs Harris said there hadn't been. Francis strongly disagreed.

Clearly she came into the cafe. I was working there.

I served her. I was wearing an apron.

I was cashing up in the evenings. She provided me with a polo shirt as uniform.

I was an employee, and at that point we still didn't doubt that.

She had said, "I'm going to let you go."

You don't let someone go if they're not employed.

Francis was awarded £931 in unpaid wages.

Despite the Haydens' court victory,

Mrs Harris has still refused to pay up.

Francis's only hope of seeing the money he's owed

now rests with the sheriffs.

And aiming to get Francis back the money he's owed,

Lawrence and Kev finally arrive in Nunney.

Locating Cafe de la Mere, they head in.

We're here today to execute a High Court writ

against Cafe de la Mere Nunney Ltd.

Is that the correct pronunciation, Nunney? Or is it Nooney?

Nunney.

We're here today to execute a High Court writ,

so you need to get the owner down here

or get her on the phone or whatever, please.

With two hungry sheriffs on the loose in her cafe,

the owner, Mrs Harris, wastes no time

in getting on the phone to Lawrence.

Hello there. I'm Mr Grix. I'm an enforcement officer.

I'm here today to execute a High Court writ on behalf of a Mr Hayden.

We're here today to seize goods.

The only way to prevent that is to pay in full.

While Lawrence talks to the owner,

Kev gets on with listing any assets he can see.

If the debt isn't settled,

they can seize these and auction them off to pay what's owed.

The contents of this place could be emptied in about an hour,

so the goods are in jeopardy, so this needs sorting today.

So if you want to get dressed and come down?

Whether Francis Hayden gets his money now

depends on Lawrence's powers of persuasion.

Can he convince the owner face-to-face

that if she doesn't pay, all that equipment will be leaving with him?

We'll find out later.

On the road again and heading for a rendezvous with a difference

are sheriffs Marc and Tony.

They're in Sussex to visit one Kurt Lander.

He's failed to pay back a loan from a former acquaintance,

and now owes over £12,000.

Mr Lander is a fisherman who owns his own boat,

and today Marc's got his eye on it.

The claimant's given us some details of a boat that the gentleman owns.

So we're off to Newhaven marina.

We'll go and seize the boat and then go from there,

see if we can get hold of him, anyway.

Arriving at the marina,

Marc and Tony go looking for the company that runs the site.

to get permission to come aboard.

Morning. Are you all right?

I think you went to the wrong place.

We just thought we'd have a little stroll.

The marina managers want to know more about the sheriffs' intentions towards Mr Lander's boat.

We've got two High Court writs.

All we're going to do is basically seize it.

Just put some paperwork on it.

I know what you do. You put a writ to the mast.

How much...? It's not my business how much is owed.

You want access to the wharf to be able to...

Just put some paperwork on it, yeah.

The marina management are only too keen to help

two officers of the High Court.

Do you want me to walk you down the wharf?

-Yeah, that'd be fine.

-Yeah, if you want to.

With the management on side,

Marc can't wait to get his hands on the boat.

Landlubber Tony, on the other hand, would much prefer to be on dry land.

(BLEEP) hell. Seasick. Don't feel too great today,

that bobbing up and down.

Oh. It's making my guts go.

Despite this, Tony's keen to show his nautical side.

Do you want me to pipe you aboard?

-Were you in the Navy?

-No.

Marc, meanwhile, is focusing on the job in hand,

taking possession of the boat by posting a notice of seizure.

It's gives him a useful tool to lever the owner into paying up.

But if he's to manage that, he's got to find the owner first.

Time to let him know his boat is now the property of the High Court.

This is a message for Kurt Lander.

It's regarding some money that's owed.

Basically where we are at the moment is we've seized your boat.

We will remove it if we can't get this payment today.

So if you could call me back as soon as possible, that'd be appreciated. Thank you.

Although he's seized the boat on paper,

Marc's aware that as it's not been immobilised,

it would still be possible for it to be sailed away.

He might be the kind who just ignores it and drives off with the boat.

What we could do is try and immobilise the boat.

-That's a route we can take.

-How would you do that?

We can change the locks, get a locksmith out to change the locks.

Change the ignition lock, probably.

And then maybe immobilise the engine somehow.

But the problem with that is costs.

It all adds extra costs to the bill,

and we don't want to ramp it up too high.

I'm not a great valuer of fishing boats,

but I wouldn't say this is worth a huge amount more than what is owed.

Marc and Tony are just weighing up their options

when the debtor calls back.

Yeah, we've got two writs that have been issued against you,

and that's what we need to collect.

Well, I need to get something today on this.

The debtor says he's on his way down.

Marc's still keen to make sure the boat stays in the sheriffs' possession until the debt's paid.

And he's open to all sorts of plans.

I could do an Uncle Albert and Del Boy, and sail it out to Holland.

We can follow that ferry to Dieppe.

But the thought of the open seas is too much for Tony.

Marc leaves seasick Tony on board while he heads for dry land.

He wants to find out if there's any way to remove the boat,

and hopes the marina office might know more than he does.

Is there anyone round here who could remove that?

Hello, I was wondering if you could help me out with a price

of lifting a boat out the water.

It's a fishing boat.

I've no idea, unfortunately. Not a clue.

I'm a High Court sheriff.

I need to get a price to remove from the water.

Do you know, I wouldn't have a clue, to be honest.

Not possible? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

No. Yeah. Yeah.

After a lot of dead ends,

finally Marc gets through to someone who can help.

He rings the office to talk through the options.

Right, they can't lift it out the water, basically. They just can't do it.

But this guy can tow it down to his thing

and he can immobilise it and chain it to the dock

and do something to the engine to immobilise it. OK?

But he can't do it today because of the tides.

The earliest it can be done is Thursday.

Marc now knows he can remove the boat if necessary,

but not for at least a day.

Wanting to ensure the boat is going nowhere,

on the marina management suggestion, he visits the harbour master,

to see if he can help keep the boat from leaving.

The boat's called Yellow Fin. It's that.

Blimey.

I mean, if it goes, it goes. I know you can't do anything,

but if you could just let him know you know it shouldn't leave.

From a legal point of view, we can only stop him going out on safety grounds

or if he owes us money.

-And he doesn't owe you money.

-I can put in a strong word and advise him not to.

Thanks very much for your help. Cheers, bye-bye.

With that lack of reassurance, Marc heads back to the marina.

And, over two hours after the sheriffs arrived,

a camera-shy Kurt Lander finally makes an appearance.

I'm not going to talk to you while he's filming, simple as that.

Do you not want to talk about it, then, Kurt?

But the debtor does want to talk about it.

At least to Marc, and only in the privacy of his van.

This is a notice of seizure to say that we've seized the boat.

It basically means that unless you pay, we can remove the boat.

Mr Lander is co-operative and offers to pay off the debt at £165 a month,

but as they're owed over £10,000,

Marc's client rejects that out of hand.

She wants more than that. At least £500, I think.

If you can't afford any more, we're not really getting anywhere, are we?

This is a problem, this.

Marc's got no choice but to give up on getting any money today.

However, worried about losing his boat, the debtor does say

he will find a way to pay the money in full in the next three days.

Until he does, his boat is seized and legally no longer his.

Marc might not have got the cash in his hand,

but for him, it represents definite progress.

And if the money isn't forthcoming, then the boat is his.

And a grateful Tony is only too pleased to get back on dry land.

You all right there?

-There we go.

-What are you like?

We've had a long-winded morning.

I think we've been three and a half hours at this job.

He's phoned since we've left the boat

and said he'll pay the full amount on Friday, three days away,

so hopefully he will.

If he knows the harbour master and everyone knows the boat can't be moved,

hopefully he'll just pay the full amount on Friday,

and that'll be job done and everyone happy apart from him,

because he's been caught and had to pay his money.

The day after Marc and Tony's visit to the marina,

Mr Lander did indeed pay the debt in full.

It means another client getting the money a court says is rightfully theirs.

What a result for the sheriffs.

Mr Lander told us he disagreed with the court's judgment,

and said he hadn't contested it at the time

because he couldn't afford to travel to Northampton to do so.

He said he had tried to pay the original debt,

but poor weather had affected his business,

causing him financial problems.

Sheriffs Pete Spencer and Dave Crabtree

are still sat in their van in Bradford

keeping tabs on a garage they know contains a Lamborghini Diablo

they've been trying to seize for six months

to cover a debt owed to one of their clients.

Because of the risk of trouble, Pete can't go in without the police.

But after over an hour of waiting,

the boys in blue still haven't arrived.

I've been on to our office in London.

They've just told me I've got to ring you back because

you need to attend quicker than this.

High Court enforcement officer, you've got a duty to assist.

Pete's insistence seems to have paid off, as moments later,

the promised back-up arrives.

Has he come on his own? Has he got dogs?

Oh, right. We're going to go in. If you follow us in.

We're seizing a Lamborghini.

With the police now behind him, it's time for Pete to enter the premises.

Sheriffs don't need to give prior notice of their visits,

so they've got no idea Pete's coming,

which he hopes means the car will still be on site.

How they'll react to his demands is anyone's guess,

but if he can hold his nerve, Pete could be on the verge of his most valuable ever seizure.

Time for some introductions.

Enforcement officer from the High Court. We've seized that vehicle.

And that vehicle is none other than

the £60,000 Italian supercar the Lamborghini Diablo,

one of fewer than 3,000 ever made,

and by far the most valuable asset Pete's ever got close to seizing.

The owner isn't on site, so Pete chases him up on the phone.

Good afternoon, Mr Patel.

I'm an enforcement officer with a live High Court writ to attend today

to remove your Lamborghini.

It's for an outstanding debt.

I'm commanded by the High Court judge to attend here today

to collect £41,000 or remove a vehicle.

We know it's your vehicle, and that's why we're taking it.

We can. If I couldn't do that I wouldn't be here.

OK. All right, no problem.

OK, thank you, bye-bye. He's on his way.

It's so far, so good for Pete.

He's found the car and spoken to the debtor

who's agreed to come down and speak face-to-face.

In the meantime, the garage agrees to provide the car keys.

There's a code as well to start it,

so we've got the key and the code to start the vehicle, so we don't have to lift it,

which will make life a lot easier and a lot quicker to do the removal.

And right on cue, the Lamborghini is delivered

into Pete's waiting embrace.

Unless the debtor can produce over £40,000 in the next few minutes,

every handmade Italian inch of it will be Pete's.

But before he can take it for a spin, the debtor himself,

Mr Patel, arrives to find Pete with his beloved motor car.

-Hiya. Mr Patel?

-It is, yeah.

I've spoken to him, he's quite happy with the scenario.

Not quite believing someone has the power

to take his Lamborghini away from him,

Mr Patel makes one last attempt to save the car,

saying he's never received

any paperwork relating to the court case.

It was a complete shock to me,

because I've just seen the paperwork from the sheriffs here myself.

It's dated from 2011, yeah?

When I actually moved out from my property in 2010.

I'm completely, completely shocked about it. I never received any letters.

Pete, however, is less than convinced.

I've been there personally and left some paperwork.

And I've also been to that address, as well. Preston County Court.

Then you will have received something from County Court.

With the car already in Pete's clutches

and unable to find £40,000 at such short notice,

Mr Patel has to accept

he'll have to wave goodbye to his beloved Lamborghini -

for today at least.

He's now got five days to either pay in full for the car to be returned,

or the car will be sold at auction.

My solicitor will sort it out tomorrow hopefully.

Fingers crossed. So we'll just leave it with the solicitors now.

Pete's job now is to get the Lamborghini

to a secure storage unit.

He might not be smiling, but inside, you can be sure,

he's thrilled to bits at finally catching up with his quarry

and driving away with one of the world's most sought-after sports cars.

Good job done as far as we're concerned.

We've come and done what we needed to do today.

The moral of the story for debtors

is that when it comes to the value of your potentially seizable assets,

for the sheriffs at least, size doesn't matter.

Doesn't matter if it's a Lamborghini or a Mini, really.

At the end of the day we're commanded by the High Court judge

to attend a property to collect the full amount or seize assets.

We've seized the asset today of the defendant on the case.

So it's job done to us.

And since sheriff Pete towed the Lamborghini,

the owner, Mr Patel, has paid up enough of the debt

to have the car returned to him.

However, a large chunk of the debt still remains,

and the sheriffs are looking into further action.

In Somerset, sheriffs Lawrence and Kev are in Cafe de la Mere,

waiting for owner Eleanor Harris to arrive.

They want her to pay back the money she owes former employee Francis Hayden,

and they're in no mood to take no for an answer.

25 minutes later, Mrs Harris duly arrives.

She isn't pleased to see the sheriffs, or our camera.

Lawrence goes outside to talk to her.

We, meanwhile, are asked to leave.

In the meantime, she and Lawrence get down to brass tacks inside.

She claims not only can she not afford the debt,

but that she doesn't have to pay it

as the company that owes it, Cafe de la Mere Nunney Ltd,

has been wound up,

and she's now running the business as a sole trader.

But Lawrence isn't buying it.

He thinks the business named in the writ is still very much alive,

as the cafe's still displaying the old company name.

That's the licensing application from Mendip District Council

with the name of your company on.

It gives us every reason to believe that the company is still trading.

And all around, there's other evidence

to back up Lawrence's theory.

So you've got Barclaycard Merchant Services

in the name of Cafe de la Mere Nunney Ltd.

So if I put my card in that machine now and paid a penny,

it would be to Cafe de La Mere Nunney Ltd.

Unless Mrs Harris can prove

the company isn't still trading at the premises,

Lawrence will seize its assets if there's no payment.

Worried by the commotion the sheriffs are causing,

Mrs Harris finally decides to do something,

but it's not the action Lawrence is after.

She insists she has paperwork which will prove

the cafe's assets are nothing to do with the company named in the writ,

but she's not managed to produce anything to convince the sheriffs,

and Lawrence's frustrations are growing.

So far, absolutely nothing is telling me

that Cafe de la Mere Nunney Ltd is no longer trading.

But nothing's stacking up, is it?

After an hour in the cafe

and still with no sign of Francis Hayden getting his money,

Lawrence has had enough.

He decides to try and hurry things along

with the threat of a removal truck.

All right, Soph?

Can you get Cathy to line me up...?

What's it going to take? A seven-and-a-half tonner.

The owner stands her ground,

asking Lawrence what proof he needs that she's a sole trader.

But a frustrated Lawrence just thinks she's stalling.

Lease agreements for the furniture, lease agreement for the premises.

Public liability insurance, employer's liability insurance.

They're the four things that I've been asking for repeatedly. This is an absolute crock.

You say you've been a sole trader since last year.

If you had been, you would not be taking money in the name of a company.

I'm going to get the truck down. Get the truck, Soph.

The owner makes one more attempt to argue her case.

But there's no arguing with Lawrence.

You don't have any real evidence of anything. You need to pay this.

Finally, after two hours, his firm action has the desired effect.

Mrs Harris agrees to pay up the money the Haydens are owed.

Would you like to give the money to my colleague, and he'll count it?

105, 106, 107. There's a monkey there.

And with that, it's job done for the sheriffs.

Another paid in full.

There was a total lack of paperwork backing up anything they were saying

with regards to who was running the business, who the assets belonged to.

There was some of the kitchen stuff was rented,

we saw a tenancy agreement for it, lease agreement,

but no tenancy agreement for the premises,

public liability insurance, employer's liability insurance.

There was nothing to back up anything they were saying,

so the goods were in jeopardy because you could clear the place out in about an hour.

Everything would be gone.

So we were pushing for payment or removal, and they paid in full.

A good morning's work for the sheriffs.

Lawrence's successful line of attack means that Francis Hayden

finally gets the letter in the post he'd hoped for.

"We have made a payment to you of £996.93

"in full payment of the above matter."

Very nice feeling. It's just an encouragement

to anybody who feels an injustice has been done to them

that actually, you can go to law,

you don't have to employ expensive solicitors,

you don't have to spend a lot of money, and you can win. Cheers!

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