Holidaymaker finds his £90k Range Rover 'written off' in airport crash

A holidaymaker from North Wales was left shocked after discovering his car had been 'written off' after leaving it in the hands of the Meet and Greet service at Manchester Airport.

Ioan Williams, 44, jetted off from the airport on August 9 for a trip to Alicante with his kids Ela and Sion.

He left his white Range Rover with the airport's Meet and Greet service, adding that the car, which he bought as a present to himself for his 40th birthday, 'didn't have a scratch on it'.

But when they arrived back a week later, he was informed by staff that there had been an incident. 

He expected to find a minor issue, but was horrified to see the driver's side wheel at an abnormal angle.

Insurers quoted the repair at £15,800, meaning it would need to be written off.

While he says the airport and his own insurers are cooperating over the issue, he was annoyed that he did not receive an apology straight away or offer of compensation.

Mr Williams, from near Caernarfon, said: 'I left the car with them on the 9 of August. This is the official meet and greet and Terminal 2 and cameras go around your car before you get in to the car park to assess if any previous damage.

'My car didn't even have as much as a scratch on it. I dropped my keys off inside the terminal where they give me a receipt for. We then went away on our holiday.'

They arrived back at 1am on August 16. 

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He recalled: 'I went to get some coffee while my friends which also parked there went before me. When I arrived at the pick up for meet and greet I saw my friends putting their luggage into their car. 

'I went to scan my barcode to access my keys. But it said seek attention.'

He was initially told there was a delay getting the car down due to people arriving back early. A van later arrived with three men and they asked to speak to Mr Williams outside.

He said: 'I instantly knew something was up and thought that my car had been stolen, but he said one of "our drivers have kerbed your wheel". I thought "oh god" and said "I hope you're going to paint it".'

'To which he replied "I think you need to have a look at it". When we walked up to the car I noticed that the angle of the wheel wasn't right and obviously been involved in a high impact and I stated this to him. 

'He agreed and said that the driver has been dealt with, but there weren't any cameras in that area.

'The car was obviously not drivable as something had snapped. They paid for a taxi home for us and I had to leave the car there. I wasn't home until 5am.'

He said the insurance company had been in touch and 'have been cooperating with me'.

He added: 'The cost of the repair came up to £15,800 to fix, making the car a write off. I loved that car, I bought it for myself for my 40th. 

'Although I've been paid out for the car it's not the point, I didn't want to get rid of it.

'Manchester Airport refunded the £149.99 I paid to park there. But I haven't had an apology email/letter from them or an offer of compensation whatsoever. I'm there quite often, but I'll never use their meet and greet service again.'

In an email to MailOnline, a spokesperson for Manchester Airport said they had now been in touch with Mr Williams to apologise for the inconvenience caused.

They added they could not comment further on specifics, because it is an ongoing process and was being handled by the airport's insurers.