A Perthshire builder has been left with a birthday hangover after being hit with a £5,000 bill for damage gatecrashers caused to a lodge he had hired for the occasion.
Party host Alex Moran was holding a two-day extravaganza at Blackwater Outdoor Residential Centre, five miles north of Bridge of Cally.
He intended to celebrate with just 14 of his friends, but after word got out on social media more than three times that number turned up.
He said: “Last Friday it was just me and a few pals. It was absolutely fine.
“On Saturday we were just sitting in the hot tub and playing music. But as the day went on, more and more people arrived.
“Word had obviously got out on social media friends of friends started turning up. There were a lot there who I didn’t know.
“By the time I fell asleep the place was in reasonable condition, with no damage.
“But when I woke up the next day I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The place was in chaos and only a few pals were still there.
“Someone had thrown a cinder block in the hot tub but I didn’t realise how badly damaged it was as there was still water in it.”
He has now been ordered to pay up £3,500 for damage to the six-bedroom lodge’s hot tub, and a further £2,000 for damage to the property itself.
The bill includes £480 to deep clean the kitchen, £200 for discharged fire extinguishers, and £90 for a broken wardrobe.
Alex, who lives in Rattray, has now set up a crowdfunding page on Go Fund Me for help in footing the unexpected bill.
He said: “We tidied up as best we could but I got a call from the hot tub company saying I would have to pay £3,500 for a replacement. And the folk who run the lodge told me I owe them £2,000.
“I’ll maybe look back on this in the future and laugh but right now it’s a sore subject.”
Live Active Leisure, who own the Blackwater Outdoor Residential Centre, said: “Our centre was damaged. We are in touch with the hirer to recoup costs.”
