A furious pensioner was barricaded inside his own home after bungling workmen dug a trench in his garden and driveway.
Frank Farmer, 67, was woken up to the sound of diggers tearing up his lawn and patio outside his home in the village of Claines near Worcester.
Contractors working on behalf of Cadent Gas told the retired police officer they were searching for old pipes which needed replacing.
Frank, who has lived in the house his whole life, then watched in horror as workmen used a sledgehammer to smash up flag stones his dad had laid in the 1960s.
The pensioner was left with a 3ft deep trench surrounding his home after workmen spent the day digging up his property on May 26 this year.
Frank said: “I woke up and heard someone outside and when I questioned them they said they were digging the gas pipe up.
“I said that there’s no gas pipe there, and that it’s the mains line. They kept digging but couldn't actually trace the pipe work. That resulted in the excavation of the entire driveway.
“They still couldn’t find the pipework. There was no care taken over it, it was a just a shoddy work. They were actually digging my lawn up, without telling me.
"There was a large trench around my house trapping me inside.
“In front of my garage I had a series of flag stones that my father put down years ago and they just smashed them up.
“Instead of lifting the flagstones up gently, they just smashed them up.
“I remember my dad putting the flagstones down in 1964 and he was thrilled to bits as he was making an improvement to the house.
“They're irreplaceable, they just smashed them with sledgehammers and replaced them with concrete.”
Frank said the only notification he received was from Cadent Gas last November informing residents they would be “working in the area”.
He said: “I had no idea my driveway and garden would be turned into a deep trench or muddy moat. It’s a disgrace.”
After the pipe work was completed, workmen filled in the whole with recycled gravel which Frank says included sharp screws on his driveway.
He said: “It’s just been blunder after blunder. Not only did they dig a great big hole in my driveway, but they filled it in with material which could quite easily puncture the tyres of my car.
“It was chaos, I couldn’t get into my garage. They dug right in front my two garages, then extended the trench right down my driveway.”
He has since been quoted £1,600 by a landscaping company to return his garden to the way it looked before workmen dug it up.
Cadent have since apologised to Frank for the damage to his garden and driveway.
Elliott Nelson, director of Cadent in the West Midlands, said: “We've investigated this matter and can confirm that the service we provided fell below the standards we expect from Cadent.
“We have taken learnings from this and have spoken to Mr Farmer and apologised for any distress this matter has caused.
"Our teams are keeping in close contact with him throughout the remainder of the works to ensure a positive resolution.”
