A woman came home from a shopping trip to find her entire patio had been dug up. Laurie Penny had only been out for a few hours, but when she got home her patio was missing and her furniture had been left in a neat stack.
Laurie noticed that scaffolding had been set up to get onto her patio, and guessed the work had been done professionally rather than being the hand of slab thieves. "Thieves don’t generally tidy up afterwards. Or stack the furniture so neatly," she said.
Laurie tweeted her local council in Islington, reports MyLondon: "This is awkward, but yesterday, I had a patio that I quite liked. This morning I popped out to the shops for a couple of hours, and now it’s…well, um, it’s gone. I know you’re busy, but could you tell me who took my patio, and perhaps also why?"
Islington Council has now said they had to remove the patio slabs to replace a waterproof membrane after a serious leak at the property. They said that Laurie should have been informed her patio would be taken apart and apologised for the inconvenience.
A spokesperson said: "Islington Council is committed to ensuring that everyone in the borough has a place to live that is safe, secure, and comfortable. Due to a serious leak at this resident’s property, it’s been necessary to remove patio tiles at the property and renew the waterproof membrane.
"The resident should have been contacted by the contractor in advance of the work taking place but, regrettably, this did not happen. The council has reached out to the resident to apologise, to discuss any concerns, and to reassure her that the patio will be fully reinstated."
They added that the work to replace Laurie's patio was nearly complete and should be done by Monday. Laurie said: "It was a hilarious mess up, but it has a happy ending. By next week I should have a new patio!"
