"As Co-chairman of CIVEA, the industry body which represents bailiffs, I have no hesitation in condemning any practices which fall foul of legal, ethical and social codes.

However, bailiffs work in a pressure-cooker environment where emotions run high. Our responsibilities should be equally balanced between the rights of public and private sector clients to be paid what is due to them and the rights of the public for transparency and fair dealings. This is far from easy.

My own company, Dukes, like all the other major Bailiff companies, stresses its industry memberships and accreditations, quality procedures and training regimes. We publish these on the home page of our website and it is a matter of both pride and professionalism when we talk about our commitment to them.

I have no doubt that all private companies, like all local authorities, aspire to these same standards of ethics, accountability and transparency.

I have been in this business for many years and it is always a matter of concern and regret when bailiff practices do not hold up well under scrutiny.

Having said that, I know the Directors of all the major players and most of the smaller companies in our business personally and I have no doubt that the vast majority of them would endorse my views."