AD Paving customers owed thousands for 'nightmare' garden projects

Customers of AD Paving have been left with unusable gardens and driveways

A landscaping firm which was paid tens of thousands of pounds for unfinished work has left scores of people with "nightmare" gardens.

Customers of AD Paving Ltd say projects were left in dangerous and unusable conditions, and former employees say they are owed thousands in wages.

Run by Daniel Wright, the Wiltshire firm is now facing a Trading Standards investigation after going bust.

Mr Wright declined to comment when approached by the BBC.

Multiple customers say the company took large deposits for contracted projects that were left unfinished, often doing some of the work after months of delays but then disappearing.

They said when they complained to Mr Wright, the firm's director, they were met with "demands for more money and excuses".

Former employees of AD Paving Ltd, who claim they are owed thousands of pounds in wages, told the BBC that Mr Wright would take on as many as 20 jobs at a time.

In their opinion, he did not have enough staff to complete the work.

Jodie Greenaway and her partner, who live in Melksham, paid £35,000 in total for a complete garden transformation.

Ms Greenaway was hoping for the "garden of her dreams"

She agreed a contract with AD Paving in May 2022, but says she experienced months of delays and excuses as to why the project was not progressing.

"It really affected me having to see my garden left in such a terrible state and no one coming to fix it," said Ms Greenaway.

"My mental health dipped to the lowest level, I've never felt so low."

That family said Mr Wright never returned, and stopped responding to them in November 2023 after completing about 60% of the work over 18 months.

The family have been left with an unusable garden

They also said they are owed more than £15,000.

"It still feels so raw. We paid him a lot of money and have been left with a nightmare garden," added Ms Greenaway.

"Now, we will never get the garden of our dreams, we just can't afford it."

Karen Brown paid AD Paving £7,000 in total for a garden transformation in 2021.

Ms Brown experienced months of delays before work began

"Every time I look out of the window, I feel depressed," Ms Brown said.

"I have invested a lot of time and money in this project and it is not finished. It makes me feel awful, and has impacted every area of my life."

Ms Brown, who lives in Calne, said she has been left with an "unusable and dangerous" garden after Mr Wright demanded more money to finish the project.

Ms Brown said her garden has been flooded for months

She said she experienced months of delays and false promises, and the work that has been completed is not to specification.

"Being the victim of something like this makes you want to shut yourself away, it has made me feel really withdrawn from society," added Ms Brown.

"My garden has resembled a swamp for nearly two years now. This has been the most stressful experience of my life, and I cannot afford to rectify it."

One former employee of AD Paving, who wanted to remain anonymous, said Mr Wright played out "a vicious cycle" of taking deposits, digging out gardens and then moving on to the next project.

Former employees of AD Paving told the BBC they are owed thousands in wages

"We went to jobs blinded. There was no plans, we just turned up, he didn't want to face the customers, so he left it to us and we had to deal with their anger," they said.

"He didn't treat any of us very well. I got talking to the customers and worked out what was going on. I started questioning him and he stopped paying me."

They are one of a number of former employees who said they are owed thousands in wages.

Former employees spoke to the BBC anonymously

"I felt really bad for the customers - sometimes they would cry to us, I would like to apologise for his actions," the employee added.

"We didn't know what was really going on, I just turned up and did what I was told to do."

Dell Hall and his wife paid £43,000 in total for a complete garden makeover. It was meant to include a new patio, pond, grass area and paving around their Chippenham house.

The couple said they are owed more than £27,000 in unfinished work

Work started in September 2022 and was supposed to finish within three months.

"There were excuses after excuses for not turning up, then we started questioning what was going on," said Mr Hall.

"We were promised it would be finished for our daughter's wedding party, which we had to cancel."

The couple said they have not seen or heard from Mr Wright since September 2023.

The project was supposed to be finished within three months

"We are angry, it's frustrating how we let it go on so long. He was so convincing, how can he stand in front of you and make false promises? It's unfair," said Mrs Hall.

They said they are owed more than £27,000 after just half of the work was completed.

"It's really stressful not knowing our money is gone," added Mrs Hall.

"I don't know how he can do this - take people's money and make false promises. We want some justice."

Gary Hawley choose AD Paving to undertake a £19,000 extension and paving of his driveway in January 2023.

Mr Hawley said he is owed more than £5,000 for unfinished work

Excavation work started taking place, but all of a sudden, Mr Hawley said he was told the groundwork was no longer suitable.

"Suddenly the extra costs started creeping in, Mr Wright wanted thousands of pounds for additional material and work," he said.

Mr Hawley said he ended up paying Mr Wright more than £25,000.

"We barely saw him over the next six months, and he left our driveway looking like a building site," added Mr Hawley.

Mr Hawley said the driveway was left in an unusable state for some time

Mr Hawley said he is owed more than £5,000 in uncompleted work.

"When he finally returned in July 2023, he only completed one side of the driveway and he never came back."

"I feel compromised and taken advantage of, my relationship with my wife was strained because of the building site on our driveway and not getting anything except excuses."

AD Paving Ltd went into compulsory liquidation in November after a petition by HMRC, to whom it owed money.

Wiltshire Trading Standards has confirmed it is investigating AD Paving, and has asked anyone with information to come forward.