A woman who went to get her car washed is furious after she says it caused damage to her vehicle.

Eliza Kedzierska, from Sittingbourne, took her Ford Kuga to be cleaned at her local IMO car wash.

The mum-of-four claims the paintwork has been "stripped off" by a pressure washer during the clean at IMO's Sittingbourne Retail Park branch in Mill Way on Tuesday.

When KentOnline tried to contact IMO for a comment, it was directed to the company's reporting damage page online which says complaints will be investigated by the company's customer services team at head office and may take up to eight weeks.

Eliza, who has already filled in a complaints form, said: "The vehicle was taken to the car wash at approximately 9.25am on Tuesday, and the last car wash about three weeks prior to this one, which was the same car wash I used to use.

"I took the car to the car wash because it was dirty and had bird faeces on the rear window and roof – the male at the car wash was pressure washing really close to the window to take the bird poo marks off and for a prolonged period of time,

"About three hours after that I noticed the damage and I immediately went to the car wash and they said the damage was very old and accused me of lying and even if I was to fill out a damage form I will still have to pay for the CCTV to be checked."

She filled the complaints form in at around midday on the same day.

The 46-year-old, who has had her car for three years, paid £11 to have it washed.

She continued: "The lacquer was pressure washed off leaving the visible marks, and on the edges the paint was even stripped off at the back underneath the bonnet.

"I think they pressure washed the car too closely and didn’t want to admit to their wrong-doings.

"I feel disappointed in the car wash and don’t feel great because I was accused of lying and nothing has been done about it ."

IMO's FAQ reporting damage page states: "At IMO, we want to make it as easy as possible for you to report any damage caused whilst in our care.

"We have a procedure in place to make this as easy as possible. We ask you to complete a form at the location where the alleged damage has taken place, taking photographs of the damage where possible.

"This form and the investigation is managed by the Customer Service team at the IMO (UK) head office. After we’ve received a complaint, we want to work with you to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

"Our obligation is to give you a final response within eight weeks unless delays are caused by third party insurance companies or other factors out of our control."