Letter in the post left me stranded without a car

A WOMAN who received a sudden letter in the post telling her to stop driving her car immediately claims she has been left 'stranded.

- BY JAMES HOLT

Sharon Jackson, who owns a Citroen DS3, received an urgent safety recall notice from the car manufacturer on June 30, delivered to her home in Stockport, which read: “Stop driving alert.”

The notice informed her about the ‘urgent’ recall to her vehicle over the Takata air bag inflators which pose a ‘serious safety risk,’ degrading over time and in the event of an accident, could rupture and cause severe injuries or death.

But after days struggling to get hold of Citroen, in some cases waiting for ‘hours,’ Sharon claims she has been told her car is not to be driven - despite her moving house in a matter of days.

She has instead been forced to pay out of her own pocket for a hire car, saying ‘thousands of others must be stranded’ due to the notice, to enable her to move from her home in Edgeley.

"You can’t just leave people stranded,” she said.

“The letter came through the post and I thought ‘oh my goodness,’ because it told me to stop driving immediately.

“There is a line to call which I tried. At first I was on hold for three hours and gave up. At 8am the next day I had my finger on the button ready and was on the phone for an hour and a half, to be told there were no instructions at all.”

Sharon was able to follow the free booking portal as signposted on her letter to get the issue fixed on her car - but the nearest available date was in Sale on July 23.

But due to her moving house, she claims she will have to leave her car unattended in her permit-only space, and risk receiving fines in the interim.