BUNGLING housing officials have apologised to an elderly couple after throwing a garage full of their belongings away following a mix-up with the address.

Sedgefield Borough Homes thought Margaret and Denis Atkinson had given up their tenancy when some keys, handed in at an office, were mistaken for theirs.

Workers dispatched to clear the garage found the keys did not fit but incredibly forced the door and binned thousands of pounds worth of goods.

“All that’s left is the cobwebs,”

said Mrs Atkinson, 65.

“I’m just glad the car wasn’t in there otherwise they might have got rid of that too.

“I can’t understand how it happened, especially when you think they’ve only just sent out the bill.”

The Atkinson’s bungalow in Oakdene, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, is about 100 yards away from the garage, which was full of gardening and DIY equipment.

Most upsetting for the couple is the loss of their static caravan cushions which means the entire van will need to be reupholstered if replacements are to match.

Mr Atkinson, 80, a former serviceman and current president of the town’s British Legion Club, said: “A lot of stuff in that garage was irreplaceable.

We’d moved from a house into a bungalow, so you can imagine we had pictures and ornaments and all sorts.

“We’ve been asked to make a list of what it’s all worth, but with some of the stuff we really don’t know where to start.”

The garage was cleared only nine days after Sedgefield Borough Homes took over the former Sedgefield Borough Council’s housing stock in a deal to unlock £100m in investment.

Colin Steel, chief executive of Sedgefield Borough Homes, said: “I would like to offer my sincere apologies on behalf of Sedgefield Borough Homes for the unfortunate circumstances which led to the contents of Mr and Mrs Atkinson’s garage being disposed of.

“We will take this opportunity to review our procedures to ensure that this does not happen again.

“In the meantime, we are working very closely with them to achieve a swift conclusion to this matter.”