A BUSINESSMAN is feeling less than bubbly after being left £8,000 out of pocket after a ‘man with a van’ said he had unwittingly handed over a consignment of 30 cases of champagne to a thief.

Jaimie Haselock paid the driver £50 to transport the 180 bottles of Louis Roederer in his transit van from his mother’s home in Halse to his flat in London.

But Mr Haselock has been left counting the cost after the booze never arrived and the driver appears to have gone to ground.

“He’s basically cost me my Christmas stock,” said Mr Haselock, aged 31, who supplies luxury gift packages through his business Champers and Hampers.

“He walked into my mother’s home in Halse, strolled in and out of the front door and hasn’t been seen since.

“He was well-mannered and well-dressed. He had a Black Country accent.

“I phoned him at lunchtime and he said he’d be with me at 4pm, but when I tried to call him after 5pm his phone was off.”

The driver eventually called back at 8pm, telling Mr Haselock he had delivered the champagne earlier that day.

“He said he handed the cases over to a man in the street outside my flat,” added Mr Haselock.

“He said, ‘I’m really sorry, I thought I’d delivered them to you’.”

He reported the theft on Saturday, September 27, to the Metropolitan Police, who have confirmed they are investigating the incident.

Mr Haselock, who grew up in Halse, said: “The police are taking it very seriously because this sort of thing has happened to a number of other people recently.

“It’s a real knock back for my business because the van company, AnyVan.com, say they are not liable for the loss.

“The champagne was my Christmas stock and I’d been keeping it in my mum’s house as there isn’t enough room in my flat.

“I’ve dealt with them before and they’re a good, reliable company.”

Angus Elphinstone, chief executive of AnyVan.com, who facilitated the van hire but does not employ the driver, has been talking to Mr Haselock, the transport provider and the police.

“The driver has provided a job sheet with a signature saying the champagne was delivered,” added Mr Elphinstone.

“We’re looking at CCTV to try to work out where the van was and where he delivered it to. It’s now a police matter.”

He said AnyVan.com receives about 5,000 delivery requests every day and this is the first time there has been such a problem in six years.