GAZETTE & HERALD: A carwash drier that crashed on to a new black cab causing £1,500 of damage, may have been sabotaged by vandals, says garage chain Total.

Gwynn Ash, a driver for Chippenham-based Lady Pamela's Cars, was sitting in the carwash at Rowden Hill on Wednesday lunchtime, when the heavy drier, which was passing over the £30,000 cab, fell on to its bonnet, .

The carwash had been out of order in the days before the incident because the drier 'arm' was broken.

But a statement from Total this week said the machine may have been tampered with.

"Total are currently waiting for a full report from an independent consultant as to the cause of the incident. However, at this stage in the investigation, we have been advised that the incident may have been the result of deliberate vandalism," said a spokesman.

"As with all Total carwashes, the carwash in question is regularly and thoroughly checked, and on its last examination, was found to be in perfect working order.

"We are, of course, very sympathetic to the customer's situation, and have been in contact with him to resolve this matter as soon as possible."

But Lady Pamela's dismissed the claims of vandalism as 'ridiculous'.

"We know for a fact that an engineer had been there fixing the machine an hour before Gwynn went in," said manager Arthur Soady. "The assistant working in the garage shop confirmed that.

"It was a busy lunchtime how could anyone have sneaked past all those customers and jeopardised it?

"We just need to get our cab fixed as soon as possible."

Mr Soady said the firm has submitted two estimates for repairs to Total and was now waiting for a reply.

Meanwhile, driver Mr Ash said he felt lucky to have escaped the incident unhurt.

"The drier was moving across the bonnet when suddenly there was a huge bang and it came crashing down on top of me," he said.

"I almost jumped out of my skin. The drier was hanging down to one side, dangling by one small plastic cable and I could see it had left a huge dent in the bonnet.

"Straight away I put the car into reverse and shot out backwards I though the whole thing was coming down on top of me."