Norman Brennan, 64, said the criminal justice system was “broken” after a man he followed for two miles was arrested before being let off, while Mr Brennan was fined by the council for driving the wrong way down a one-way street.

Mr Brennan confronted the man outside Sainsbury’s in Twickenham Green, south-west London before pursuing him as he fled.

He eventually helped arrest him and found nine stolen bottles of wine hidden behind flats in a backpack.

The man was neither fined nor cautioned after the manager of the supermarket opted not to press charges. Mr Brennan, however, was fined £130 by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

The sum has since risen to £195 because he refused to pay the fine.

The council said he “had no legal authority to enter this road”.

Mr Brennan told The Mail on Sunday, however, that he was an advanced police driver and that he had been doing less than 5mph while talking to a 999 operator on his hands-free.

“What a complete waste of my time and an absolute farce,” he told the newspaper.

“Supermarkets need to get serious about tackling shoplifting by declaring they will take action. The police are not really bothering because they know that on the rare occasions cases do get to court offenders are let off with a conditional discharge or a small fine or a community order.”