Powys family stranded in France after car keys fall in lake

Angharad Carrington-Edmunds said it had been a stressful time for her family

A couple from Powys have been stranded while on holiday in France after their car keys fell into a pedal-boat lake.

Angharad and Jack Carrington-Edmunds from Crickhowell have been stuck in the north of France since Monday with their two young daughters.

Locked in the car were their possessions and cash.

Their four month-old's christening had to be cancelled and Mr Carrington-Edmunds, who is self-employed, has missed out on a week's work.

While staying at a Eurocamp in northern Brittany, the family were on a boat at the resort when their daughter accidentally knocked a bag and the car keys fell in the lake.

Solicitor Mrs Carrington-Edmunds, 30, said her husband stayed on the lake until it was dark, using nets, in a bid to try and find the keys.

The family have travel, breakdown and car insurance but hit walls with their providers before finally resolving the problem, prompting Mrs Carrington-Edmund to warn people to check their policies.

The car keys fell into the water as the family were on a pedal boat

She said they took out car insurance with the AA and also pay for a premium account with Nationwide to get insurance but both claimed they would not be covered because there was not "an obvious threat of the vehicle being stolen".

However, she said her "solicitor side came out" and she asked them to send over her policy wording but they backed down saying they "misread the policy".

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"I've felt so lost, no-one would help us. We appreciate it's an accident, but that's why you pay for insurance - for accidents," she said.

They paid privately for their car to be towed to a garage, where it then stayed.

And a special key needed to be sent from Germany, which took extra time.

The BBC has approached Nationwide for a comment, while a spokesman for the AA said: "We have sympathy with the customer and their circumstances, however their policy does advise that claims for lost or stolen keys will only be accepted where there is an obvious threat of the vehicle being stolen."

Late on Friday, Mr Carrington-Edmunds was able to pick up their car from the garage and drive it back to the campsite.

The family are planning to return home via a car ferry on Sunday.