A DISTRAUGHT St Albans woman has blamed a faulty front door for the tragic death of a family dog which was killed by a car at the weekend.

Jane Abram, of Drakes Drive, said she had been living with the faulty front door, which did not shut properly, since last year.

Workers from St Albans District Council came out to fix it at the end of September this year but instead of replacing it, Jane says they used pieces from other doors to complete the repair. Despite this, she says she still had problems with the door not always closing properly.

On Sunday, Jane’s family visited her home for lunch. “It was the first time we had all been together in ages,” she said. “There was my daughter Louise, her children and their dog Chaos.”

When it was time to leave, Louise took the family home in several trips while Jane looked after the Staffordshire bull terrier which the family acquired from a rescue centre seven months ago.

Jane continued: “I heard a knock at the door and as I went to it, I noticed it was open. It was someone asking if I had a black dog staying with me. When I said yes, I was told he had just been hit by a car.”

Chaos suffered multiple internal injuries and could not be saved as the operation would have cost �4,000.

A clearly shaken Jane continued: “I blame myself – I’m so distraught about the whole thing. You just don’t think about having to check whether the door has shut properly. There was so much going on and I didn’t notice he had slipped out.

“I’ve got eight grandchildren and it could easily have been one of them.”

A spokesperson for St Albans District Council said they had carried out an inspection at the premises on September 27 to check for possible subsidence following reports of cracks around the back door.

They had found no signs of structural problems when both front and rear doors were checked during the visit: “The door was secure and the locks in working order. Minor repairs were made to the door frame. We have no record since then of any problems being reported to say that the door would not lock.

“The council takes security very seriously and we have an out of hours, or emergency, line that tenants can call and a contractor will be there within two hours to ensure that any doors or windows are secure.”