A MUM was left distraught after her dream B&Q kitchen collapsed – causing £4,000 of damage.
Maria Kimble, 46, was in bed last month when she heard a deafening “bang” downstairs and thought a window had blown in.
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But she was horrified to discover two cabinets ripped from the wall, taking out the oven, microwave and 100 plates and bowls with them.
Recalling the March 2 collapse, she said: “It looked like somebody had grabbed the kitchen units and pulled them off the wall.
“All the electrics had been pulled out. The oven was in bits on the floor.”
The incident destroyed Maria’s seven year crockery collection, including unique Emma Bridgewater plates.
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Maria says she lost six platters, 20 dinner plates, 10 cereal bowls, six sandwich plates, serving bowls, egg cups and more.
The destruction left Maria, from Gosport, Hants, feeling “numb” and without anything to cook with for two weeks as the oven was smashed.
After filling seven bags-for-life with debris the couple inspected the cupboards.
But they were shocked to find the units comprised of “really poor quality” chipboard which had “disintegrated”.
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To add insult to injury, the pair only fitted the two £100 B&Q Good Home Caraway Larder Cabinets themselves 14 months earlier.
Online the cabinet is advertised as having a 25 year guarantee.
B&Q said they were sorry to hear about the incident and said they were eager to instruct the independent Furniture & Home Improvement Ombudsman to carry out a investigation, at the company’s own expense.
Maria has now refitted her kitchen with a larder unit and a small base unit from Ikea which she has turned into a tea making station.
Out of 100 damaged limited edition items, she has only been able to replace two.
A B&Q spokesperson said: “Please pass on our apologies to Ms Kimble, we were very sorry to hear that the unit collapsed causing the loss of her Emma Bridgewater plate collection.
“We have checked our records, however, based on the information you have provided, we have been unable to find any record of contact from Ms Kimble with our Customer Services team.
“We are sure that you will appreciate that it is not possible to determine what has caused the issue based on the photographs provided.
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“Therefore, we would like to instruct an independent expert from The Furniture & Home Improvement Ombudsman, at our cost, to visit Ms Kimble’s property at a mutually agreeable date and time to carry out a thorough inspection of the unit etc and provide us with their expert opinion as to what has caused the issues she has experienced.
“Once the visit has taken place, we will be provided with a report detailing their findings and be in a position to progress the matter further.”
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