Ruined

Michael Robinson, 28, says he lost his fiancee, home and job after the Child Support Agency ordered him to pay nearly £3,000 in seven months.

But DNA tests, finally arranged by the CSA, have proved that the girl, now aged four, cannot be his.

Today Shipley MP Chris Leslie called for a "wholesale reform" of the much-criticised agency. And a CSA spokesman admitted: "Customer service is not our strong point."

Mr Robinson, who quit as a claims manager at a Leeds law practice in November in a desperate bid to stop the payments, accused the CSA of pursuing him like a criminal.

His employers were ordered to take £400 a month from his £1,100 salary - and in one month £800 was deducted.

He said: "There was no reasoning with them, I couldn't get the money stopped despite saying I wasn't the parent.

"I filled out forms for a living but I kept getting told they hadn't received forms I'd sent.

"I couldn't find out how I could get a DNA test to prove my case."

Mr Robinson, of Bolton Hall Road, Bolton Woods, Bradford, met the child's mother in a Bradford nightclub in 1993.

After a two-week "fling" the pair split up, but the woman contacted him four months later to say she was pregnant with his child.

Following the baby's birth and failed attempts to strike up a relationship, Mr Robinson said the woman told him he was not the father during a row and the pair lost contact.

Then in late 1997 the CSA started the deductions direct from his wage after being unable to make contact with Mr Robinson because they did not have a current address.

He said: "I was living in a riverside apartment in Leeds and I was in a steady relationship.

"My only worry was whether to buy an Boss or an Armani suit. I lived to my means and all my money was already accounted for.

"When the payments started my girlfriend was forced to support me but the stress of it split us up and I lost the flat.

"The claims stopped for a few months but then they started again.

"I stupidly turned to drink and was caught drink driving. Work kept me on but by November I could no longer afford to live and keep up with the payments.

"I was a total wreck, my life was in bits. I'm now looking for another job but this has set my career back years.

CSA spokesman Ian Cuddy said Mr Robinson would now be reimbursed.

He said: "Customer service is not our strong point and there are too many cases which highlight what can happen when procedures go wrong.

"We are very sorry that the CSA got involved in this case. However we are legally obliged to pursue a maintenance application and if the mother gives us wrong information this can set off a chain of events."

Mr Cuddy said if the agency could not get information about an alleged parent's financial circumstances, a high payment would be imposed to encourage the person to submit their details.

But he was unable to explain why it had taken a year for a DNA test to be carried out to discover if Mr Robinson was the father.

MP Chris Leslie said the both the CSA's management structure and procedures needed urgent reform.

He said: "I get at least one constituent a day coming to me about the CSA, I'm sick to the back teeth with its inefficiency and incompetence.

"The public find it very difficult to get in touch with the organisation. This is not an untypical situation and this is not how a public service should be working."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.