Widow Linda Hufton, from Liverpool, has been left in the dark for several months after a brick wall collapsed into her garden. She wants repair works to commence so she can get her garden back
A widow was left stunned after she returned home from her friend’s house and found her garden had been wrecked after a bad storm.
Linda Hufton, 77, from Liverpool, says her beloved backyard was found in a state after a brick wall, belonging to West Derby Bowling Club, collapsed onto her patio in January. The nature enthusiast has been left without a greenhouse after it was smashed into pieces during the process.
Ms Hufton, who has lived in the property for 11 years, says she has been waiting for months to get her garden back. Speaking about the mishap, she said: “It was January of this year and I had been visiting a friend when there was a bad storm. I ended up staying at their house. When I came home the next day and opened my curtains to look at my garden, I couldn’t believe what I saw.”
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The pensioner said the whole wall of the bowling club behind her had collapsed following the storm, with large numbers of bricks coming down “like a deck of cards” and smashing onto her patio.
She said: “I just didn’t know what to do. I contacted my insurance company, who came out and stacked up all the loose bricks for me. But there was a discussion about whose wall it was before it was decided it was the club’s wall.”
The 77-year-old said what followed was an interminable wait for any action to be taken to repair the wall and the damage to her garden.
She said: “For a long time it just felt like nobody cared. I was so upset about it. I really love my garden. I am a widow and I live on my own. I spend a lot of time in my garden and this destroyed parts of it – it ruined my greenhouse and my planters and it felt like I was just left to deal with it.”
Mrs Hufton says she received a letter suggesting it was on her to contact her insurance company to sort the situation out, reports Liverpool Echo.
She said: “I thought they way I was spoken to in the letter was disgusting – to send that to a lady of my age.”
However, there does appear to now be movement in terms of repairing the wall – or at least the promise of movement.
The publication contacted the bowling club and a representative said there had been a delay in carrying out the repair work because of their insurance company, but confirmed that work to rebuild the wall would be starting on Monday.
The representative indicated they did not want to speak further on the matter.
The Mirror has contacted West Derby Bowling Club for comment.