Our Christmas is ruined after removal firm binned our kids’ presents & the tree by MISTAKE – it’s all in a skip outside
A DAD has said his family’s Christmas has been left “ruined” after an asbestos removal company allegedly threw away all their belongings.
Aaron Snell, 40, lives with his partner Louise, 37, and two kids in a Victory Homes property in a small village near Norwich, Norfolk.
He claims the firm owes them tens of thousands of pounds after everything they owned was bagged up and dumped in a tip.
Their heartbroken children Zak, 12, and Aria, three, have also been left without any presents or a tree just days before Christmas.
Photos of the chaos show their living room completely stripped bare with not even the carpet left behind.
Priceless items now said to be lost forever include multiple Canon cameras worth up to £5,000 and a £900 Samsung TV.
The total damage reportedly adds up to a shocking £23,500.
It leaves the family in tatters just days before festive celebrations were supposed to commence.
Aaron told The Sun: “We had to live in our house with a broken ceiling for four months.
“We were all exposed to asbestos fibres for that period unknowingly, and we’ve now been to the doctors as we are concerned about our health.
“The whole thing has ruined Christmas. We’ve been left with a living room that has nothing in it.
“Everything has gone so the room is freezing cold. We don’t even have a TV or sofa.
“The kids are upset because we’d literally just bought a Christmas tree and that’s now in the skip.”
Worse still, the family’s computer – containing 500,000 photos of irreplaceable childhood memories – is now allegedly gone for good.
Aaron spoke of “items of sentimental value” like “pictures done by the kids” and their “first cards” which can never be replaced.
The nightmare is said to have begun after the family asked their landlords to fix a “gaping” hole in their ceiling that had caused them “months” of stress.
What is asbestos?
ASBESTOS has been used for over 4,500 years, and in the ancient world was recognised as the ‘magic mineral’ due to its abundance and fire-resistant properties.
But it has been banned from construction works as it is a highly dangerous substance — it can severely damage your lungs and is a carcinogen, meaning it can cause cancer.
What is asbestos and what is it made of?
Asbestos is a mineral substance that is found through mining.
It is made from naturally occurring fibres that are resistant to fire, heat and electricity, and can even absorb sound.
This is why the material began to be used in housing construction for insulation.
It would be sprayed into ceilings and walls before it was banned.
It was also used in old vehicles and pipe insulation.
Due to the mineral being naturally occurring, it can be found in trace amounts in make-up and other products.
Vertex Asbestos Removal Company was called in to address the issue.
But when Aaron returned home, he claims he found the flat completely empty.
After reaching out to Victory Homes, the family was asked to provide receipts for all the large electrical items mishandled – even though some had been in their possession for years.
Aaron expressed concerns that the company was “not going to pay us the money back”.
The Sun has reached out to Victory Homes for comment.