Calls for council to step in after lock-ups flooded

RAIN: Valuables ruined after rented storage swamped

Residents in Perth’s Craigie area have found their valuables trashed after lightning floods swept through councilowned lock-ups.

Water surged up and out of Craigie Burn during the torrential downpour two weeks ago, as more than a month’s rain descended on the city in just a couple of hours.

The watercourse burst its banks in several places and wire fencing was swept down at Balmoral Place.

The damage left more than a dozen Perth and Kinross Council-owned lockups exposed to the surging water and the rented structures quickly flooded, wrecking many of the possessions stored inside.

Craigie resident Patricia Duncan also had her Peugeot car written off due to the extensive water damage and says more than 20 other vehicles that had been parked in and around the lockups, including larger trucks, suffered the same fate.

Her car insurance will cover the vehicle, but Patricia is hoping the council will step in to offer some support for her other goods after they were damaged by the flash floods.

She said boxes of books, LPS and luggage were left soaked and spoiled by the filthy water, which she fears may have contained sewage.

Patricia said she felt abandoned after Perth and Kinross Council told her the mess is hers to clean up and the damaged goods hers to replace.

She said: “There are 14 lock-ups here and between them, the cars parked outside and the ones round on Queen’s Avenue, I was told there were 27 vehicles written off.

“I’m looking for the council to do something. I’ve had a lock-up here for more than 10 years and signed a basic contract back then, but the council say they don’t have one.

“Management say that it looks like there’s not a lot they can do, so I feel like I’ve lost out. I’ve just been sent a public liability form to fill in, they’ve not even been out to clear up.

“The only communication I get with the council about the lock-ups is when they ask for rent.”

Perth and Kinross Council was asked to comment but had not done so by late last night.

Picture: Steve Macdougall. Craigie resident Patricia Duncan alongside some of the damaged contents of her lock-up on Balmoral Place, Perth.