A white van man has taken on the might of Tesco and won.

In what has been described as a “modern day David and Goliath” battle, David Bond, 59, from Swindon, took on the supermarket giant after it refused to compensate him fully for damage done to his van by contaminated fuel.

Despite Tesco’s admission of liability for selling Mr Bond 61 litres of diesel that had been contaminated with water in November 2003, it balked at paying more than 25 per cent of his £3,400 repair bill for the damaged engine. After chasing the debt for three years Mr Bond finally secured a High Court judgment against Tesco in December. As the supermarket chain continued to stall, the court ordered enforcement officers to impound goods until it had cleared its debt.

So last Thursday shoppers at the St Oswald’s Road Tesco Extra store in Gloucester watched open-mouthed as bailiffs strolled in and roped off £60,000 of its finest wines and liquors. Staff were warned that they would be in contempt of court if if they tried to sell the goods, which remained in the store under the “walking possession” of the bailiffs.

Mr Bond said that Tesco seemed to consider itself to be “bigger than the courts”. His lawyer, Barry Bennington, accused Tesco of arrogance and said that the company, which recorded pretax profits of £1.09 billion in the first six months of last year, now had a court judgment against it that could affect its credit rating.

Tesco’s embarrassment follows last week’s fuel debacle when thousands of motorists suffered engine problems after buying contaminated petrol from its filling stations.

On Friday, amid allegations that fuel suppliers had known for several days that the petrol was contaminated but had continued to sell it to consumers, Tesco said that it would refill its unleaded-petrol tanks in the South East after its tests showed there was “evidence of significant silicon contamination”. It apologised yesterday to customers whose vehicles had been damaged and promised to pay their repair bills.

Mr Bennington, a senior legal executive with Withy King, said it was ironic that Tesco was making the pledge after failing to pay his client. “This case clearly shows that the issue of contaminated fuel is not just a recent one,” he said.

Mr Bennington said: “This is a modern-day story of David and Goliath. Despite admitting liability, despite the court judgment and despite the fact that High Court enforcement officers have seized £60,000 of goods, Tesco has yet to pay David Bond a penny of the £2,690 still owed. Tesco’s arrogant attitude towards both its customer and the law has been extraordinary.”

He said that the £60,000 worth of goods had been seized to cover all possible costs.

Tesco apologised to Mr Bond yesterday and said that it would reimburse him. A spokesman said: “A cheque for the full amount is now on its way to Mr Bond. The delay was the result of an administrative oversight. This is an isolated case and in no way reflects the usual treatment received by customers.”

Small victories

— In 1999 the heirs of Elvis Presley were told that a London shopkeeper had a right to the singer’s name. The High Court ruled that Sid Shaw was allowed to sell his products from Elvisly Yours outside Graceland

— Diane Barker, from South London, changed planning law when she defeated Bromley council over its plans for largest rooftop car park in Europe. In January 2007 the European Court ruled that all councils had to carry out an environmental assessment before granting planning permission

Why the superstores usually settle debts

Seizure of goods by bailiffs may be standard practice where an individual or small company refuses to pay a debt, but impounding £60,000 worth of alcohol from a business such as Tesco is extremely unusual (Frances Gibb writes).

High Street chains normally take care to avoid the bad publicity that goes with a visit from the bailiffs and settle legal debts in the usual way.

Bailiffs have right to take goods to the value of the debt owed if a county court judgment entered against an individual or company is not appealed against and complied with. Creditors generally cannot use bailiffs without permission from a court.

This week MPs debated whether to give enforcement agencies the power to enter people’s homes forcibly and recover civil debts. Ministers insist that the powers would be used only as a last resort and with the authority of a judge.

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