I was horrified after my broken down car was CRUSHED while I waited for it to be fixed – no one told me

A WOMAN was horrified when her broken-down car was crushed while she was waiting for it to be fixed.

Caitlyn Whent, 26, from Cwmbran in South Wales, was driving her Ford Fiesta when the engine stopped and she was forced to park at an industrial estate.

She went with family to collect her car months later - but it had vanished from the site in Cwmbran.

Puzzled Caitlyn then discovered her car had been sent for crushing during clearance works by the owners of the Springvale Industrial Estate.

Bosses at FI Real Estate Management have now issued an apology to Caitlyn for the "irrevocable damage".

Caitlyn said: “This was my first time involved in a breakdown, I didn’t know what to do.

“My uncle came home from holiday and said we would go get the car and he would fix it himself but when we got there it had gone.

“I had a £100 Barbour coat in the car, candles and my glasses which I need for reading and writing."

Caitlyn left her car in October last year before returning in January to discover it was gone.

She said: “FI Real Estates kept saying that they were going to pay me but they started ignoring us and withholding the payment.

“First, they told me I would be paid £1,500 then that changed to £1050.”

Caitlyn has now been compensated £1,050 by the firm.

A spokesman for FI Real Estate Management commented: “We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mrs Whent for the irrevocable damage to her vehicle, which occurred during clearance works at a development site in Cwmbran.

"We have compensated Mrs Whent for the distress and inconvenience caused, and we apologise for the delay in this payment being made."

It comes after a family who parked in a £160 "safe and secure" car park in Heathrow came back from holiday to find their vehicle written off.

Oliver and Amy Clague, from Bristol, had just landed after a sleepless long-haul flight with their one-year-old baby when they discovered that their car's catalytic converter had been ripped out.