Grandmother Pat Ancell has been left without water or a cooker - after her new kitchen fell off the back of a lorry.

Everything had been going smoothly for Mrs Ancell when she moved house three months ago.

She had a new bathroom fitted and was waiting for her dream kitchen to be installed in the retirement flat.

The £2,000 kitchen from B&Q included a cooker and washing machine and would have added the finishing touch to her new home at Windsor Court in Tongdean Lane, Brighton.

But Mrs Ancell is still waiting for her kitchen.

As the boxes were being unloaded on the delivery day, some of them fell out on to the road, damaging most of the contents.

Mrs Ancell's daughter Mandy Phillips, from Woodingdean, said: "I couldn't believe it.

"The whole lot fell off into the middle of the road and my poor mum saw it all.

"The delivery guys hurriedly picked it all up and put it back in the van.

"Mum wasn't going to accept it after that because the items had been damaged. There were glass-fronted cabinets in there."

Mrs Ancell bought the kitchen in the new year sales at B&Q in Shoreham.

She paid for people to take out the old kitchen and remove all the fittings ready for the new one to be installed on Thursday last week.

She was looking forward to using it later that same day but now fears she could be stuck with an empty room with no cooker or running water for two weeks.

B&Q offered to deliver a replacement at the beginning of the week but Mrs Ancell cannot get a plumber or electrician to install it until next week.

Mandy said: "My sister has been round with bottles of water but my mum has worked herself into such a state, she's decided she's not hungry.

"She's very self-sufficient. Then something like this happens and your dream kitchen crashes to the floor.

"It has brought her close to tears."

A spokesman for B&Q said: "We're sorry an accident occurred during the delivery of Mrs Ancell's kitchen.

"However, we've pulled out the stops to ensure we deliver the order as promised.

"Unforeseen circumstances can arise which unfortunately lead to a delivery delay and we apologise for this happening."