A car salesman could be forced to close his business after a wall collapsed on his fleet, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage.
Tom Bowles, who runs T Bowles Vehicles Sales in Church Street, Sittingbourne, says his “heart sank” when he found 20 of his second-hand vehicles crushed by the fallen rubble.
The dealership boss, who has been at the site behind Lidl for the last three years, says several cars have been written off and he estimates the damage has cost him around £120,000 already.
He now fears it could be months before he can reopen his business, if at all.
The 30-year-old, who started up seven years ago and was previously based in Aylesford, had been driving to the premises last Wednesday (July 2) when he took a call from his landlord.
The dad-of-one, who lives in Ashford, says it was unusual for his landlord to contact him so early and told him he needed to get down there as quickly as possible.
It was only when Tom arrived five minutes later he realised the “extent of what had happened”.
Tom told KentOnline: “I started assessing the damage and started to think ‘that car is dead, that one is dead and that one is dead’. My heart just sank.”
He added that based on the Lidl CCTV, which they provided for Tom to watch, he said it “looked like somebody had lit a bomb on it and exploded it”.
“It came down on its own and had not been hit by anything,” he added.
“Twelve of the cars and vans are right-offs, such as a Ford Fiesta in the corner that had its roof touching its steering wheel after part of the wall landed on it.
“Eight were damaged from the other cars shunting into the back of them.
“I might be able to salvage those eight if the insurance pays out. I had two cars that had already been sold as damaged.”
Tom explained one was a Nissan Juke, which the buyer was going to pick up that day, and the other, a Mercedes E-Class that had been sold.
“I had to ring up both of them to tell them they couldn’t have their cars,” he added. “Altogether, the damage to assets has cost me around £120,000.”
Part of the Lidl car park, just off the town centre’s one-way system, has now been fenced off following the wall, which is not owned by Tom’s landlord, collapsing.
He now fears he might have to close his business.
It is currently shut until further notice while he waits for a definitive answer as to who is responsible for the wall before he lodges any insurance claims.
“I’ve been told it will be around six months [before the business can reopen], and just to rebuild it [the wall], I’ve been told two months,” he added.
“So whether I reopen again, I am not sure.”
A Lidl spokesman said: “Following a partial collapse of a boundary wall in the car park of our Sittingbourne store, a section of the car park has been temporarily closed off as a safety precaution.
“Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the store remains open and trading as usual.
“We have contractors on site assessing the situation while we continue to work with all relevant parties. As this is ongoing, we’re unable to provide further details at this stage.”
