Driver is left stranded 80 miles from home after her brand new £22,000 Renault Captur was ‘written off’ when Sheffield hotel car park flooded in heavy rain
- Lisa Harding’s car was submerged in rainwater at a Mercure hotel
- The 51-year-old ‘bawled her eyes out’ while the hotel denied responsibility
- She bought the Renault Captur from new and has been left without transport
A photographer was left stranded more than 80 miles from home after torrential rainfall flooded a hotel car park and wrote off her £22,000 hatchback.
Lisa Harding had been enjoying a stay at the Mercure Kenwood Hall Hotel in Sheffield but found herself in a ‘nightmare’ after discovering torrential rainfall had partially submerged her Renault Captur.
The disaster left her stranded and helpless, ‘bawling her eyes out’ more than 80 miles from home – and scuttled her plans to show her aunt and uncle around the Peak District.
To make matters worse, the hotel has denied responsibility for the issue in its car park, other than offering her a complimentary spa treatment and payment for onward travel.
The incandescent photographer, 51, took to Twitter to hit out at the hotel and vent her frustrations.
Lisa Harding woke to find her silver Renault Captur up to its wheel arches in rainwater. Torrential downpours drowned out her parking space at the Mercure Kenwood Hall Hotel
The 51-year-old took to Twitter to express her anger at hotel staff, who she claimed had given her ‘no help’ with the situation
She wrote: ‘So there it is. My car written off due to water in the electric gear box.
‘£22k car bought from brand new, my first brand new car and it’s gone over night and written off.
‘No help from hotel Mercure Sheffield and offered free dinner and a spa treatment as compensation.
‘Have to rely on a friend to drive me home tomorrow. Holiday ruined and lost my car. Absolutely devastated.’
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Lincolnshire photojournalist Ms Harding later claimed that staff began informing incoming guests not to park in the same area as she had – too late for her to save her car.
The disaster meant she couldn’t take her relatives Peter and Lesley Whitty, who had travelled from Essex for the trip, to see the Ladybower Reservoir and Castleton.
She said of discovering her car up to its wheel arches in water: ‘I got up this morning to take them out, and my car was sat in nearly three feet of water.
“I’ve tried to get it out myself but the water comes up to my knees. That meant I couldn’t know the extent of the damage.
“My aunt and I have just been left to sit here in the foyer. They’re warning people not to park in the bottom end but it won’t do much now.’
Hotel staff have hit out at her version of events, claiming that the area in which she parked her French crossover was ‘clearly marked’ as a no-parking zone. They also offered to cover the costs of getting to a station to get home.
A spokesperson for the Mercure Kenwood Hall Hotel said: ‘Unfortunately the guest parked in a ‘no parking zone’ that was clearly marked by yellow road markings, despite other spaces being available.
‘Since the car was discovered, our team have tried to assist the guest in several ways including trying to restart her car, and as a gesture of goodwill have offered her a complimentary dinner with wine and a spa treatment.’
The deluge flooded the inside of the car and damaged the electrically powered gearbox beyond repair. Ms Harding says she has been given ‘no help’ by staff at the Sheffield hotel
The Mercure Kenwood Hall Hotel in Sheffield. Staff have claimed that Ms Harding parked her car in an area that was ‘clearly marked’ as a no-parking zone
But Ms Harding maintains that there were no signs telling her not to park there – and TripAdvisor reviews posted by other guests mention flooding issues on a regular basis.
One review, posted in July, noted: ‘The car park was flooded and most spaces are under low trees which need a good cut back and the slippery leaves clearing up. Car ends up filthy.’
Another guest, who stayed in October, described the car park as ‘flooded’.
Ms Harding, who says she has alternated between ‘feeling furious and bawling her eyes out’, continued: ‘The water’s gone in the footwells and got into the electric gearbox and they’ve written it off. They’re coming to take it away tomorrow and I’ve got to find my own way home.
‘Luckily, a friend of mine is going to do the four-hour trip but I’ll be going home without a car. It’s not quite how I expected my holiday to go.
‘Put simply: I’ve come on holiday and I’ve lost my car.’
The nightmarish Sheffield situation came as a result of stormy weather and torrential rain overnight on Tuesday, amid an unseasonably wet and cooler July. Experts say the trend is likely to continue throughout August.
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