A SOUTHAMPTON man has been forced to pay child maintenance payments for a little girl that isn’t his.

Now he has been told that he needs to take the mother to court to get his money back.

The 22-year-old, who has not been named, entered a whirlwind romance with a woman he had met while working in Bitterne.

After three months, the relationship had fizzled out but his former partner found out that she was expecting a child.

Child Maintenance Service (CMS) then contacted the young man and said he had 30 days to dispute his former partner’s claim for financial child support.

Although he had his doubts regarding paternity, he believed his name was on the child’s birth certificate and agreed to make payments.

But a month after he asked for visitation rights to see the child, it was then revealed that he was not on the birth certificate and that he may not be the father.

In August last year, he disputed the claim and asked CMS for a paternity test.

The alleged father paid just shy of £700 towards the child from August until December, but after his former partner failed to appear for two DNA tests it was then deemed by CMS that he could not be proved to be the child’s father and the case was closed.

He said: “I felt indirectly mistreated by CMS, I understand that it is important for the child’s health and safety for payments to be made by parents.

“In today’s climate of equal rights, gender should not play a part.

“It was all very one-sided, I was always on the back foot; the ball alway’s seems to be in the woman’s court.

“It has been an emotional rollercoaster, its been dragging out for almost a year.

“It should be quick and simple, they should have just held the finances until it could be proven that I was the child’s dad, that way I have been able to get my money back.”

The Department for Work and Pensions advisors told him that it would be in his best interest to continue to pay the mother because if it was determined that he was indeed the child’s father, there would be a backlog of payments.

If child maintenance payments are not met and accounts go into arrears, CMS can make an deduction order, which means a bank or building society will deduct money from an individual’s bank account to pay off the arrears.

People can have a deduction order made against them if the CMS cannot take money out of their wages.

However CMS state they cannot do this to the man’s former partner because the money was spent on the child and they would not want to potentially endanger the child’s welfare.

He has now been advised to take the matter to the small claims court which has cost him a further £70.

A DWP spokesperson said:“When we make contact with someone to ask them to pay child maintenance they need to inform us within 30 days if they believe that it is not a valid claim.

“If further information regarding the paternity of a child comes to light once payments have been made directly to the resident parent, they can pursue a reimbursement from them in the small claims court.”