A driver who was held by police after he tried to pay for fuel using a £100 coin has been awarded £5,000 damages for wrongful arrest.

Brett Chamberlain put £60 of diesel in his car at a Tesco store in Exeter. But when he tried to pay, the cashier refused to accept his money.

Under the 1971 Coinage Act the 2016 Trafalgar Square £100 coin is legal tender in the UK.

But the Tesco manager called the police and Mr Chamberlain, who collects coins, was arrested on suspicion of ‘making off without payment’ — despite the fact he had not left the petrol station.

Mr Chamberlain, a carpenter from Tiverton, Devon, said: ‘They wanted to prosecute me for using Royal Mint coins.

‘You couldn’t make it up.’

The 50-year-old was held for more than four hours after the incident in July last year.

Devon and Cornwall Police later told him he would not be charged.

His lawyer, Iain Gould, said he took legal action ‘after failing to receive an adequate apology or an assurance the incident would be removed from the police national computer’.

A police spokesman said: ‘We have taken steps to recognise and rectify the issues raised.’

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