A £30,000 luxury car has come to a watery end after being accidentally knocked into a neighbouring canal by a passing van.
Efforts are now being made to try and fish the 2004 Chesil 356 Speedster, which was parked outside AutoVero luxury and classic cars, from the Regent’s Canal in Islington, north London.
Watching the efforts to try and recover the two-seater soft top from Wenlock Basin, AutoVero’s owner and director Kalvin Cauldwell said: “It could have been much worse.”
A “smashing noise” alerted him that something was wrong on Wednesday at about noon. It seems a delivery driver somehow made contact with the car which was in a car park at the back of the building, according to Mr Cauldwell.
He said: “It (the car) was knocked into the canal.
“It is an item of stock. It is now in the canal with lots of people scratching their heads thinking ‘how are they going to get that out?’
“I was with a mechanic dealing with a Ferrari and I heard a smashing noise, then I was looking around and it was the canal.
“He managed to slide past a Mercedes that was there as well.
“It could have been much worse, definitely.”
Mr Cauldwell, who is now preparing to have to deal with insurers, expects the car is now a “total loss”, adding: “I have never ever had a claim like this before and I doubt I will have one again.”
