A father is battling to recover more than £1,000 he paid in traffic fines because he claims he wasn’t told he had committed an offence.

Sayed Asif Baharun, 39, is locked in a dispute with Barnet Borough Council over the tickets, which were correctly issued after he drove in a bus lane on West Hendon Broadway back in January.

However, he says he didn’t receive notification of the fines and was forced to pay bailiffs when they turned up at his home in Dallas Road, Hendon, in August.

He was also visited by bailiffs two weeks ago, when he handed over the same amount again. He paid £512 both times, for each original penalty charge.

Mr Baharun, who lives with his wife and three children and works as a security guard at Brent Cross Shopping Centre, is trying to appeal.

He said: “I am trying to get the money back but it’s not easy. I had to borrow from my family, so it’s not even my money.

“I asked the council if I could pay the fine off, but they said it was out of their control. They said it had gone to the bailiffs, and was out of their hands.

“It’s really stressing me out. I cannot sleep because I have all these things to think about. The whole family is being affected.”

Mr Baharun said he had no problem with the original fine, which he thought was fair enough.

He explained: “The dispute isn’t over the ticket itself. One has to obey the law, but none of the letters from the council arrived. It’s ridiculous. The council should have figured that if I hadn’t replied after the letters, that something was up.

“It’s been playing a lot on my mind. I have got so much paper work to deal with. It’s all additional costs which I haven’t got. I have to keep borrowing money.”

A council spokesman said: “The council sent Mr Baharun ten letters about these penalties to the vehicle’s registered address, the first of which was sent on January 30, 2014.

“Following those ten letters an additional letter was sent to the same address, which Mr Baharun responded to. We are therefore confident the letters were sent to the correct address. We are not able to confirm whether Mr Baharun opened any of his other post or not.

“Mr Baharun challenged the council’s version of events at the Traffic Enforcement Centre (Northampton County Court) on the August 26, however his appeal was later refused after submissions from the council.”