Power to the people, says Karen, after cleaning up 1,000 damages

Last updated at 12:36, Friday, 23 January 2015

A West Cumbrian woman has advised people to stand up to big firms when service isnt up to scratch after she was awarded more than 1,000 for a damaged carpet.

WIPED THE FLOOR: Karen Williams, of Broughton Cross, with some of the correspondence from her battle

Karen Williams, 52, of Broughton Cross, near Cockermouth, hired a Rug Doctor carpet cleaning machine from Workingtons Morrisons store in September, but after using it her living room carpet shrank and her house was filled with a stench of rotting underlay.

She had to remove her carpet and despite four months of correspondence with both companies, she was getting nowhere.

Mrs Williams, a mother-of-two, turned to Trading Standards for help.

She said: Power to the people I say. Local people should be informed that the giants cannot walk all over you and our local Trading Standards officers are there to help.

When the carpet was damaged, Mrs Williams rang Morrisons.

The supermarket referred her to Rug Doctor, which said the hired machine had been recalled because there was a leak.

An independent assessor visited to look at the damage and Rug Doctor said it would not pay any compensation, as her carpet was too old.

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Power to the people, says Karen, after cleaning up 1,000 damages