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Tesco to repair pensioner's wall after 'hit-and-run' by delivery driver in Chartham

By: Marijke Hall

Published: 17:30, 28 February 2019

Supermarket giant Tesco has agreed to pay for repairs to a pensioner’s garden wall following claims the damage was caused by one of its delivery drivers.

Neil Campbell says he was in his living room at his home in Shalmsford Street in Chartham when he saw a van reversing slowly towards his house.

“I expected it to stop long before reaching the wall, but no, he carried on, ever more slowly across the kerb, the pavement and then into the wall,” he said.

Neil Campbell by his wall that was knocked down by a Tesco Van. Picture: Paul Amos

“I was outside before he stopped moving, and banging on his nearside window, when he finally stopped with his van still embedded in my wall.

“As he was blocking the traffic, I allowed him to complete his three-point turn, expecting him to then stop and exchange details, as required by law.

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“Instead he shot off.”

Mr Campbell says he took the driver’s registration number down and immediately got in contact with the supermarket giant, which passed the matter to law firm Plexus.

Mr Campbell claims witnesses would have seen the van straddle the road

But the legal team initially said there was no evidence the crash had happened and that the driver had denied being there.

“Rather conveniently, there is no video recorded from the van and they say there are no independent witnesses,” Mr Campbell said.

“But lots of people sitting in the resulting traffic could see there was a Tesco van straddling the road.

“Plexus are calling me a liar.”

The damage to the wall. Picture: Paul Amos

A Tesco spokesman previously said that following a thorough investigation, there was no evidence the damage had been caused by one of the company’s delivery vehicles.

They suggested Mr Campbell pursue a claim through his insurance company.

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Mr Campbell was poised to go head-to-head with the retailer, and issued a plea for any witnesses to the crash to come forward.

But earlier this week, he unexpectedly received confirmation that Tesco would foot the repair bill.

Tesco spokesman Tom Nicholson said: “We were sorry to hear that Mr Campbell’s wall was damaged and we have agreed to cover the costs of repair as a gesture of goodwill.”

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