03 August 2023 , 21:08
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This article had inaccurately reported the car in question was an electric vehicle. The article has been amended accordingly and we have published this correction to make this clear.
A hapless photographer was stranded 84 miles from home after her brand new £22,000 car succumbed to flooding during her holiday.
Lisa Harding, 51, took the Renault Captur, a hybrid motor, on a trip on Tuesday with the intention to take her aunt and uncle Peter and Lesley Whitty around the Peak District. She stopped at the Mercure Kenwood Hall Hotel in Nether Edge, Sheffield, on Tuesday but woke, following a night of heavy rain, to find her car essentially flooded.
Photographs show significant rainwater engulfing the Renault in a parking spot in the car park, some 84 miles from Lisa's home in Coningsby, Lincolnshire.
Photographs show rainwater surrounding the automobile (Lincolnshire Live / MEN Media)Speaking to Lincolnshire Live yesterday from the hotel, the photojournalist said: "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.
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"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." Records show Lisa paid £22,000 for the new vehicle.
Mr and Mrs Whitty had come to Sheffield from their home in Essex for the holiday, which was cut short after just one night. More than 10mm of rain fell in Sheffield on Tuesday, around one-fifth of last year's total precipitation in August.
Lisa said her parking bay had been at a dip, which is why the car appears to be at an angle in the photos. She added: "I'm a self-employed photojournalist. I need my car - and you know what it's like in Lincolnshire. People might ask why I don't have breakdown cover but, frankly, I can't afford it."
She said the hotel management told her she would need to call a breakdown company to have her car towed out of the water, and reception could not have warned her as she had not left her number.
However, a spokesperson for the hotel said that she had left her car in a no-parking zone and disputed Lisa's account of events. He 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."
Several parts of the country, including Windsor, Berkshire, have also experienced small floods due to heavy rain this week (Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock)The hotel also offered to pay for the guest to get back to the station so she could get home. The snapper disputed the parking restrictions, saying there was no clear signage anywhere that she could see and that other cars had parked in adjacent bays. TripAdvisor reviews left by fellow guests mention flooding in the car park.
One holidaymaker wrote in July: "The car park was flooded and most spaces are under low trees, which need a good cut back and the slippery leaves need clearing up. Car ended up filthy."
Accor, the France-based group which owns the hotel chain Mercure, also responded to Ms Harding via Instagram. A spokesperson told her at around 10am: "We are sorry to hear about your experience and this incident with your car.
"We have forwarded your message to the ALL [Accor Live Limitless] teams, who will help you with any questions or complaints you may have. An agent will contact you as soon as possible."