Moment 'sly' council worker smashes car window with a lawnmower – ‘before trying to cover his tracks’
A car owner is furious after CCTV footage appeared to show a council worker smashing his vehicle's window with a lawnmower and then trying to cover his tracks.
Jay Elton, 31, from East Yorkshire, says the council refused to compensate him for the incident outside his house in Willerby, which has left him £550 out of pocket.
The father-of-two woke up on September 6 to find the shattered window before footage from his doorbell cam revealed it was caused by the council's lawnmower earlier that morning, when it apparently propelled an object at his car.
The moment a council worker on a lawnmower in East Yorkshire drives past Jay Elton's car after apparently causing one of its windows to shatter
The footage shows the council worker return some minutes later to assess the damage
Mr Elton says the footage shows how the 'sneaky' council worker then collects some stones from his front garden which he places around the car in a bid to cover-up the incident
The father-of-two said the clip shows the council worker returning minutes later with stones from his front garden, which he places around the car in an apparent bid to cover-up the incident.
Mr Elton said he is having to sell his daughter's pony to cover the damage after his insurers refused to pay out.
'It was really deceitful, he was trying to make it look like it was our fault in some way,' he said.
When Mr Elton approached East Riding of Yorkshire Council, he was told he would not be compensated.
The authority denied liability and claimed the worker had made the necessary checks to ensure there were no hidden objects in the grass.
However, Mr Elton says his video footage proves otherwise.
When Mr Elton (pictured) approached East Riding of Yorkshire Council, he was told he would not be compensate
The back right passenger door window was left completely shattered following the incident
Mr Elton said he has had to walk his daughters to school in the rain and that his car keeps getting soaking wet due to the missing window
Mr Elton added: 'I put an insurance claim in and found out yesterday that I will not be getting it because they claim he had checked the area before mowing the area.
'But I can see in my camera that he did not.
'I feel really sad as a council taxpayer that this is how we are treated.
'Accidents are accidents, we can all live with them, but this sly sneaky behaviour is not acceptable and not for council taxpayers.'
Mr Elton said he has had to walk his daughters to school in the rain and that his car keeps getting soaking wet due to the missing window.
Mr Elton claimed this was not the first time an incident like this has occurred in his neighbourhood.
His neighbour, Ken Garforth, has reportedly also had his car window smashed by a council lawnmower in the past in an identical incident.
Mr Garforth, however, was successful in claiming insurance.
Mr Elton said that because of the recent incidents, residents on the street have become fearful of something similar happening to them.
A spokesman for East Riding of Yorkshire Council said: 'The incident is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the council and its insurers and therefore we are unable to comment at this time.'
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