Dad's dream campervan became his 'worst nightmare'

What began as a dream come true ended as a dad's "worst nightmare" when his campervan was returned 14 months after breaking down in France.

Matt Collins, from Redditch, bought the vehicle for £7,000 last year and planned to travel across Europe with his family after spending time restoring it.

But two days into the trip, the campervan broke down in France and was taken to a local garage after Collins contacted the RAC. When it was finally returned to Worcestershire, he said it was missing an engine and filled with mould.

The RAC said the nearly 25-year-old campervan suffered a serious engine failure but accepted the situation should have been managed more proactively by its partners.

"Buying that campervan was a dream come true for me and my family," Collins explained.

"We'd saved up for it and I'd put all my hard work into it to make it clean and tidy."

After the vehicle was taken to a local garage, Collins and his family made their way back to the UK without it.

The Redditch dad said he spent months chasing updates on its repair, but received little information about when it would be returned.

"It was an absolute nightmare. Just trying to get some confirmation as to when the van was going to be fixed," he said.

"I got told it would be September, then it became Christmas, January, and then it was just radio silence."

Collins said the campervan was eventually returned on 15 October.

"The state of the van when it came back... it was crazy. The paint was peeling, there was no engine in there," he said.

"I knew it would be in a state but I didn't expect it to be... my worst nightmare, basically, has come true."

He said the vehicle's condition inside was equally shocking.

"All the seats were ripped up, there was cat hair, dog hair, you name it. There was mould, all my clothes and camping gear had been completely wrecked."

An RAC spokesperson said Collins had been "badly let down" by the independent garage that was meant to repair the campervan.

"While we were not responsible for the mechanical fault that caused the breakdown, we're extremely sorry for what followed," they said.

The spokesperson said the RAC had offered to fully repair the campervan at its own expense and provide a "significant gesture of goodwill", but said the offer was not accepted.

They added that a proposed financial settlement had also been rejected and said the organisation believed it had "made every effort to put matters right".

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