A CHAUFFEUR from Charfield is considering legal action against a garage after his dash cam picked up footage of a mechanic taking his £40,000 Mercedes for a joy ride.

The video, uploaded to Youtube by David Argust, shows a mechanic driving dangerously and breaking the speed limit nine times while taking the new E300 AMG out of a spin.

Since the release of the video, the garage, a branch of Sytner Mercedes in Bristol, has told Mr Argust he is no longer welcome at any of their centres.

Mr Argust, 40, who lives with his wife and three children in Charfield, took his Mercedes – one of the few cars he uses for his business – to the Sytner Mercedes Bristol garage to have a wheel sensor repaired.

When the car was returned he played back the dash cam footage and was left stunned by what he saw.

The mechanic drives the car at high speeds throughout the video, at one point reaching 35mph in a car park where the speed limit is 5mph and in another moment hitting 58mph in a 40mph zone.

“My first response was shock,” Mr Argust told the Gazette.

“It took me a while to digest what I had seen. Watching it just gets worse every time – and the video doesn’t do the way he was driving justice.”

However, it is not simply the joy ride that has infuriated Mr Argust. He told the Gazette he is more annoyed by the company’s response: to offer him £1,500 to stay quiet and, upon release of the video, to ban him from using any of their garages in future.

The ban meant Mr Argust could not have his car serviced at an appointment he had booked for Monday, and will now have to wait until later in the month when a garage in Cardiff can complete the work, losing earnings in the process.

“I only decided to speak out about this after their response to my complaints, because people need to know,” he said.

“I spent £42,000 on this car but people spend a lot more, and then they’re treated like that.

“I feel let down entirely by Mercedes Bristol. I will have to claim my loss of earnings through a small claims court.”

Mike Smith, the head of business at Mercedes-Benz in Bristol, said: “We have sincerely apologised to the customer and we do not tolerate this kind of behaviour.

“The employee concerned no longer works for the company.”

The company was unable to comment on the prospect of legal action by Mr Argust before the time of publication.  

To see the video visit gazetteseries.co.uk.