A Sittingbourne car-dealer fears he might have to close his business after a wall between him and the neighbouring Lidl store collapsed, writing off 12 cars and damaging several more.
00:00A car dealership in Sittingbourne has been out of operation since July after a wall in the carpot collapsed and caused over £120,000 worth of damage.
00:08The dealership, which shares a border with the town's Liddle, says liability for the wall hasn't yet been determined, leaving the small business in financial limbo.
00:17Obviously the wall that's fallen down was roughly 15 foot high, but just luckily it was at 10 past 5 in the morning rather than at 10 past 10,
00:26because obviously at 10 past 10 there would have been someone here, and that's when someone could have been injured or worse,
00:31and the extent of the damage obviously has flattened some of the roofs down to the steering wheels.
00:35It's been six months since the wall at Tom Bowles' business fell down and destroyed 20 vehicles.
00:41While Tom doesn't know exactly whether the wall is Liddle's property, he says it was a supermarket giant who had previously commissioned surveyors and contractors to assess it,
00:50having planned to take measures to ensure its safety before it fell.
00:53His insurance company has offered him a payout of £40,000, but he says he believes he should be compensated fully.
01:00I've been buying a ceiling car since I was 14, and then I made the jump at 23 to start this up full time.
01:07So I built it up from virtually nothing, from a couple of cars up to having 60 cars, and obviously overnight it's pretty much squashed it.
01:16He reckons the total retail loss of the vehicles, loss of earnings, and the amount he pays in rent and business rates is nearing a quarter of a million pounds.
01:25The outgoings have forced him to return to work elsewhere as a motor mechanic and drain his young family's savings.
01:31Trying to be a parent to my little boy as well, and have him every weekend still, it's been tough because I'm still trying to provide for him as well as keep myself afloat, keep my house paid for, keep the business floating where it can, and obviously operating.
01:48So when it is settled, we can open again, but hopefully as strong as we were at the start.
01:52Lidl declined to comment on this story until its insurance process is over, and Tom hopes liability for the wall will soon be claimed so he can begin to rebuild his business brick by brick.
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