THE son of millionaire store owner Vera Weisfeld has petitioned the court to order the return of a car kept by his estranged wife, in the latest of a series of acrimonious court battles.

The action brought by Mr John McDonald - a son from Mrs Weisfeld's first marriage - asking the sheriff to judge whether Mrs Anita McDonald should keep the Toyota Landcruiser or not, is to be heard at Paisley Sheriff Court.

Mr McDonald, of Rose House, Templetonburn, Ayrshire, wants the court to order the vehicle to be returned or re-possessed by sheriff officers.

He is seeking #7500, plus interest, if the vehicle cannot be traced.

In papers lodged with the court, he maintains the vehicle was given to him as a gift by his stepfather, Mr Gerald Weisfeld, and, as such, does not constitute matrimonial property.

He claims the vehicle has been parked outside his wife's address in Espedair Street, Paisley, without road tax and, as a result, he has been forced to make fixed-penalty payments to police.

The couple separated three years ago and, earlier this year, Mrs McDonald, 32, raised a civil case against her husband over unpaid alimony.

Later, he was branded a ``lout'' when a sheriff was told she had been unable to repay money she fraudulently obtained from the DSS while working as a barmaid, because he had defaulted on an undertaking to make regular alimony payments.

In the latest case, set for later this year, Mr McDonald is asking the court to order his estranged wife to hand over the vehicle or to grant a warrant to sheriff officers to search for it and to have powers to break into lockfast property, if necessary, to take possession of it.

Sheriff James Spy continued the action to a date to be agreed by both sides.