A used car retailer that saw £250,000 worth of used car stock written-off after a high-speed police chase ended in a Volkswagen Golf somersaulting across his forecourt has been told he must foot the bill.
James Hodges, marketing and social media manager at Huddersfield-based ENKAE has revealed that the business will not receive a penny for the £80,000 Mercedes C63S AMG, £72,000 Audi RS5 or two Mercedes A45 AMGs destroyed in the incident after West Yorkshire Police closed its case.
AM reported on the dramatic incident, and featured video footage of the forecourt collision, in July last year.
Speaking after the collision, James Brown, sales director at the Enkae Prestige car dealership, said he felt “sick” upon discovering the damage.
Brown said: "Just 30 minutes before the accident three of us were all standing exactly in the same spot that the car crashed."
Despite ENKAE’s CCTV system capturing the dramatic end to the police car chase on camera, however, West Yorkshire Police told Yorkshire Live that a charge file submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was not progressed due to "evidential issues".
The force said that it had carried out a "thorough investigation" during which two people were arrested and later released under investigation.
James Hodges, marketing and social media manager at ENKAE, told Yorkshire Live: “Our insurance has said that, as the case is now closed, they are not going to pay us out.
"We are in a difficult situation as a business because we have lost £250,000 in stock.
"Our insurance company is saying we have to wait for the police to give us the names of the people in the car (the Golf) and chase that information up.
"We're at a loss."
Despite the business’ losses Hodges told Yorkshire Live that the incident had proved to be something of a "marketing marvel".
He said that potential customers had discovered the business through its exposure on news outlets and via the YouTube footage of the collision.
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