Not their finest hour and not a place i would want to be abandoned over night.
A WOMAN has spoken of her terror after she was left ‘abandoned’ at the top of a Lake District mountain pass in poor weather as night closed in.
Clare Ward, who has a holiday home at Grange-over-Sands, has criticised breakdown company Green Flag, which she feels let her down, and warned: “You can have the best cover - it means nothing.”
Her husband, Jason, eventually drove for four hours from their Leicestershire home to pick her up.
A spokesman for Green Flag said the organisation had ‘fallen short of the standards we set ourselves’ and ‘wholeheartedly’ apologised.
Mrs Ward, 51, said she was approaching the top of the pass from Eskdale, where she had spent the day walking her dogs, when her front and rear tyres unexpectedly burst and deflated. She does not know what caused this.
She said she called up Green Flag and was eventually told that the company would try and book a taxi to go and pick her up but that, after numerous phone calls were made in an effort to get an answer from her breakdown provider, she was informed no vehicles were prepared to travel to her location.
“They said if you want help you’ll have to get the police to get you off, you’ll have to get mountain rescue to get you off,” said Mrs Ward, a nurse from Thornton.
“I couldn’t believe it, I was absolutely frightened to death.
“You imagine being up there, a woman on your own, too frightened to open the windows, and the wind was howling.”
Her husband eventually took matters into his own hands and drove 200 miles from the couple’s home to pick her up.
Mrs Ward said the police did not come because her husband was on his way.
Upon arriving, he rolled her Skoda Yeti back to the car park of the Woolpack Inn, while she in turn drove his car down.
After further wrangling with Green Flag the following day, Mrs Ward said a removal company eventually deposited her car at a garage in Grange.
She described being shaken by the incident and felt it would knock her confidence when driving.
“I am a strong woman, and the whole experience was so frightening,” she said.
“Green Flag let me down, at every single angle.
“I am definitely going to change my policy. I will never, ever trust them again.”
A Green Flag spokesman said: “It is our purpose to be there when our members need us and to keep them moving. Unfortunately on this occasion we have been unable to respond in the way we normally would.”
He said: “Our customer relations team is in contact with Mrs Ward to see how we can rectify this situation for her.”
A WOMAN has spoken of her terror after she was left ‘abandoned’ at the top of a Lake District mountain pass in poor weather as night closed in.
Clare Ward, who has a holiday home at Grange-over-Sands, has criticised breakdown company Green Flag, which she feels let her down, and warned: “You can have the best cover - it means nothing.”
Her husband, Jason, eventually drove for four hours from their Leicestershire home to pick her up.
A spokesman for Green Flag said the organisation had ‘fallen short of the standards we set ourselves’ and ‘wholeheartedly’ apologised.
Mrs Ward, 51, said she was approaching the top of the pass from Eskdale, where she had spent the day walking her dogs, when her front and rear tyres unexpectedly burst and deflated. She does not know what caused this.
She said she called up Green Flag and was eventually told that the company would try and book a taxi to go and pick her up but that, after numerous phone calls were made in an effort to get an answer from her breakdown provider, she was informed no vehicles were prepared to travel to her location.
“They said if you want help you’ll have to get the police to get you off, you’ll have to get mountain rescue to get you off,” said Mrs Ward, a nurse from Thornton.
“I couldn’t believe it, I was absolutely frightened to death.
“You imagine being up there, a woman on your own, too frightened to open the windows, and the wind was howling.”
Her husband eventually took matters into his own hands and drove 200 miles from the couple’s home to pick her up.
Mrs Ward said the police did not come because her husband was on his way.
Upon arriving, he rolled her Skoda Yeti back to the car park of the Woolpack Inn, while she in turn drove his car down.
After further wrangling with Green Flag the following day, Mrs Ward said a removal company eventually deposited her car at a garage in Grange.
She described being shaken by the incident and felt it would knock her confidence when driving.
“I am a strong woman, and the whole experience was so frightening,” she said.
“Green Flag let me down, at every single angle.
“I am definitely going to change my policy. I will never, ever trust them again.”
A Green Flag spokesman said: “It is our purpose to be there when our members need us and to keep them moving. Unfortunately on this occasion we have been unable to respond in the way we normally would.”
He said: “Our customer relations team is in contact with Mrs Ward to see how we can rectify this situation for her.”
