A man has been banned from every Wickes in the UK after parking a 'tank' outside the Basingstoke store in a row over work carried out to fit his kitchen.  

As previously reported, Paul Gibbons from Kingsclere parked the vehicle outside the Wickes in Basingstoke in December in protest against the company which installed his kitchen in February 2023.

The 63-year-old has demanded a refund from Wickes for the £25,000 kitchen installation, which he claims has been plagued with issues including mould under the sink, badly fitting units with a poor finish, with one heavy drawer nearly collapsing on his dog.

His 'tank' protest has made national headlines after it was originally reported in the Basingstoke Gazette - and now Wickes has come forward to speak about the situation, saying they have had to call the police. 

A notice was also put on the vehicle earlier this week warning that it will be removed ‘within 14 days’ of the date of the notice, dated January 23.

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Basingstoke Gazette:

Mr Gibbons parked the huge vehicle – a 1963 decommissioned Abbot self-propelled gun which he borrowed from a friend – outside the store on December 27 and declared he wouldn’t move it until he received a refund.

Wickes has now banned Mr Gibbons from entering any of its stores after claiming he was 'aggressive' towards staff. 

A spokesperson said: "As the safety and wellbeing of our team members is our number one priority, and following incidents when Mr Gibbons has demonstrated unacceptable and aggressive behaviour towards members of our team, we reported these incidents to the police and took the decision to issue him with an exclusion notice preventing him from entering our premises.

"Unfortunately, Mr Gibbons has failed to comply with the exclusion notice."

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A spokesperson from Hampshire Constabulary confirmed that they received reports of harassment. 

They said: "Enquiries are ongoing to establish whether any criminal offences have occurred."

Speaking to the Gazette, Mr Gibbons denied any aggression towards Wickes staff members - and said he's not bothered by the ban. 

He said: "I do not want to give them any more of my money, so I wasn't going to go in anyway.

"I am not an intimidating person. They sent three security guards, one of them was this really big fella, to hand me the exclusion notice.

"Police officers spoke to me in December, but they said they were fine with me being here, they said they did not have concerns.

"I do not enjoy going up and talking to people, I do not like when they come up to you in town and ask to sign petitions, so I would not do it here. I would never harass anyone.

"Standing here, I have met so many lovely people. One man even offered to fix up the mistakes for free, he said he'd have it done in four days. 

"He didn't want anything for it, he'd have just done it off his own back. But I couldn't accept because if something went wrong he'd be liable, Wickes would be off the hook."

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Mr Gibbon's kitchen has been inspected by The Furniture & Home Improvement Ombudsman, organised by Wickes. 

A Wickes spokesperson told the Gazette that the Ombudsman recommended two to three days of remedial work to bring the kitchen up to a satisfactory standard but Mr Gibbons rejected the offer. 

Mr Gibbons said: "It was just rude, they think it is fixable in 14 hours but there is no way that you can fix it in that time. You would need two days to fix the electrics alone.

"They have my money and I want it back, if I had not paid my bill on time they would have been on me like a tonne of bricks. 

"I want my money back and want them to take that kitchen out of my house so I can get a new one.

"It's not a dream kitchen by any means, all I needed was a safe and serviceable kitchen but it is neither."