Bungling workmen throw away couple's bespoke £10,000 kitchen after mistaking their cupboards and worktops for RUBBISH

  • Contractors were working on the house in Newcastle fitting new wiring
  • They removed the cabinets and surfaces to access the walls
  • Workers put the kitchen items outside, where binmen took them
  • The couple have since been offered a new kitchen by South Tyneside Homes
  • However, they feel they haven't been offered one of the same quality

By Luke Garratt

Published: 02:39 EST, 5 April 2014 | Updated: 10:17 EST, 5 April 2014

A couple were left shocked when workmen accidentally threw away their bespoke 'kitchen for life' worth almost £10,000 - and binmen mistook it for rubbish.

Julie Martin, 51, and partner Kevin McKeith, 53, were having some new electrical wire installed in their house in South Shields, Newcastle, when they realised their kitchen fittings had been taken away to the tip, leaving their expensive kitchen a gutted husk.

The contractors had taken down all of the kitchen units, cupboards and surfaces in order to fit the wiring in the walls, and placed them at the back of the house - only for binmen to take them away.

Julie Martin, 52, in the husk of her now-gutted kitchen after workmen inadvertently threw the £9,500 fittings out

Julie Martin, 52, in the husk of her now-gutted kitchen after workmen inadvertently threw the £9,500 fittings out

The mistake cost the couple £9,500, and now they are left searching for a new kitchen.

Ms Martin and Mr McKeith were in the midst of having their kitchen repaired by contractors who were working on behalf of South Tyneside Homes, who were carrying out the work as a part of their 'Decent Homes' programme.

Because the couple loved their bespoke kitchen, they declined the offer of a new one, but still needed some rewiring and a new bathroom.

 

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Ms Martin, said: 'We got our own kitchen put in about five years ago and we spent £9,500 on it.

'I love cooking and baking so I spend a lot of time in, and we wanted something that was going to last - that was meant to be our kitchen for life.

'They have accepted blame, but what I don't understand is if they put the cupboards outside, they must have known they had to bring them back in when they were done, and if the cupboards were missing then why didn't they say anything?

The workmen had left the fittings outside next to the bins while they had carried out the electrical wire renovations, where the binmen mistook the expensive cabinets for rubbish

The workmen had left the fittings outside next to the bins while they had carried out the electrical wire renovations, where the binmen mistook the expensive cabinets for rubbish

Julie Martin was having renovations to her South Shields house as a part of the Decent Homes programme - but had declined a kitchen renovation because she was happy with her £9,500 kitchen

Julie Martin was having renovations to her South Shields house as a part of the Decent Homes programme - but had declined a kitchen renovation because she was happy with her £9,500 kitchen

'We told the council that we didn't want a new kitchen off them and were happy to keep the one we had.

'The workers needed to take the top cupboards off the walls to do the re-wiring.

'The story is that to make more room for themselves, they put the cupboards out in the back yard then a binman, who was going around collecting rubbish, came and took them away.

'It wasn't until the next day that I started sorting through boxes and things in the kitchen and noticed they weren't anywhere in the house.'

Julie, a support worker for people with brain injuries, said she contacted housing bosses, who held their hands up and admitted fault straight away.

Ms Martin has been offered a new kitchen by the housing authority, which has admitted they were in error, but she feels she hasn't been offered one of the same standard

Ms Martin has been offered a new kitchen by the housing authority, which has admitted they were in error, but she feels she hasn't been offered one of the same standard

The couple have been told they can choose a replacement kitchen as means of compensation, but they say they have yet to be offered one they feel is of the same quality or value to the units they lost.

A spokesman for South Tyneside Homes said: 'This was a genuine mistake on behalf of the contractor, which has accepted responsibility and apologised for the error.

'The contractor has assured us they are working very hard to resolve the issue and have offered the tenant a range of options to try to progress this as quickly as possible.

'We are waiting to hear back from Mr McKeith to take this forward.'

Comments (823)

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I wouldnt leave something worth 10k outside.

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they should be offered a kitchen to the same value of the one that was took away if they can prove the price they paid for the kitchen,

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Hard enough getting STC to empty the wheeled bins! If you want any bulk waste taken away STC charge £16.00 for up to 8 items! Greedy shopping baskets!!!! More likely to have been scrap men!!!!

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5 years ago the same kitchen now would be in argos

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just go to the original supplier have them quote for the matching cupboards etc and send the quote to the council

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I don't know why they are even talking about a "new kitchen"; it looks as if only a few upper cabinets are missing. It should be easy to match a simple style like that of the lower ones with replacements of the same quality. Even if the cabinets themselves are out of production, I'm sure the hardware is still available.

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Looks like they did her a favour. I wouldn't have given that thing houseroom. Maybe she can get a decent kitchen next time...

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Well after paying my tax, water rates, gas,elec, mortgage food bills wish i had ten grand to spend on my home

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I sell fitted kitchens from £5000.00 to £35,000.00 so I know what I'm talking about. The hood is £69.00 and and sink and tap £99.00, hob £139.00, 30mm laminate tops £80.00 for 3 meters, if the have really paid £9500.00 for that they have been ripped off by the tune of over £4000.00. No disrespect to them but it's a cheap trade quality kitchen you get from any builders merchant.......NEVER A BESPOKE KITCHEN AND NEVER £9500.00

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Someone can enlighten me - the binmen just come into your back garden and take away what's there? Or are the discarded items left outside the back door, as in the alleyway? Because, for me, if the units needed removing to fit in the wiring, and they're place out of the way, as in the back garden, that's where they should be at the end of the day. The binmen shouldn't be coming into the back garden for anything. On top of which, the units should either be put back into place, or if they are due to continue work the following day, check with the owner as to where they can leave it. All of this SHOULD have been cleared prior to any removing. And they went off without a word to the owners about the units, shoddy preparation and shoddy consideration. the council would offer something less than, get them to cough up what the units were valued at.

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