Kate Ambler’s back on the road (with a ‘little help’ from her friends)
Final act in crushing bike drama as supermarket giant goes from villain to hero
Published: 25 February 2010
by DAN CARRIER
THEIR advertising slogan boasts that “Every Little Helps” – but supermarket giant Tesco were unwilling to back up such a claim when one of their deliveries wrote off a bicycle outside one of their stores in Highgate.
Actor Kate Ambler, who lives in Holly Lodge, had left her Mongoose mountain bike chained to a bike rack in Swains Lane in early January. But returning to collect it the next day, she was shocked to find it bent out of shape and fit only for the scrap heap.
However, thanks to the New Journal, Ms Ambler can look forward to a new set of wheels after Tesco decided yesterday (Wednesday) to cough up.
Previously – before a call came from our offices – the supermarket giant had told her their hands were tied as she had not got the delivery van’s registration number, despite having witnesses to the “mangle and run” crime, and the exact time and date. Tesco considered the matter closed.
Ms Ambler, who is about to star in Chekhov’s The Seagull at a theatre in York, had left the bike on the rack instead of taking it into her flat in Hillway as she lives in a block with an elderly resident and didn’t want to clutter up the stairwell.
She said: “I use my bike every day – it’s crucial for getting me to work. I was pretty annoyed.”
But her faith in human kindness was restored when she saw stuck to the cross bar a note from a Good Samaritan, who claimed they had watched as a Tesco lorry back up on to the pavement, crush the bike rack and then bend Kate’s wheels out of shape.
Ms Ambler said: “I called Tesco, but they said they couldn’t do anything to help.”
And then the New Journal made a call – and Kate was contacted by the supermarket giant promising to send her cheque to buy her a new bike.
A Tesco spokesman said: “We are happy to have been able to settle this matter with Miss Ambler.”