Block of ice smashes through caravan roof as owner sleeps

Caroline Guy believes that the ice fell thousands of feet from a plane – and she is now trying to find out how it happened.

It landed in the bathroom and smashed straight through the floor before breaking into smaller pieces, some of which are now being stored in Mrs Guy's freezer.

The 52-year-old, who runs the Cowshed restaurant in Pattingham, was in bed at her cottage in the village about 10 yards away when she was woken by a "huge smash" at about 7am.

But she thought no more of it as she saw no sign of any trouble when she looked out the window.

Her mother Daphne, 75, was helping clear the garden at the property off Patshull Road later on Saturday morning when she discovered the wreckage.

A gaping hole has been left in the roof, with insulation hanging down, while mirrors and doors have been broken.

Mrs Guy had lived in the caravan for two years until November while her new barn conversion home was being fitted out.

She was planning to clean it in the coming days before putting it up for sale – and says she could easily have been in the bathroom when the ice landed.

"I was in total disbelief when I saw what had happened," said Mrs Guy, who has a 27-year-old son and 25-year-old daughter.

She added: "I just thank goodness I wasn't still living in it, as at that time of the morning I could have been in that room.

"It could have hit my house or car.

"I'm still quite shaken and I can't believe it.

"The bang was very loud, and the house is well-insulated, so it must have been big for me to hear it.

"I looked out of the window and couldn't see anything, so I forgot about it."

Mrs Guy has emailed the Civil Aviation Authority with details of the incident and is now looking into what to do next.

Experts from the authority have previously estimated there are only around 35 similar reported cases a year. The cause is thought to be water leaking from pipes and seeping out of the aircraft before freezing.

In the past 40 years, during which the CAA have kept figures, there have been five recorded cases of people being hit by such ice.

In 2009, Bristol pensioner David Gammon, 76, was left painfully bruised when a lump of ice the size of a grapefruit landed in his lap as he sat in his garden.

Mrs Guy's mother Daphne Jones has spent recent months landscaping the garden of the house, which is more than 200 years old. It was overgrown when Mrs Guy bought it, so she enlisted the help of her family to clear the site.

Mrs Jones said she could not believe her eyes when she found the damage that had been caused by the ice – and said it took her a few minutes to work out what exactly had happened.

She added: "It is incredible. It must have fallen from an aircraft. The ice is brown so you wonder what part of the plane it has come from. We have put some of it in the freezer because we want to preserve it in case it is needed for any investigations."

Debris falling from plane toilets is called "blue ice" as the detergent used turns the water blue.

It is caused by leaking toilet storage tanks.

Mrs Guy said she hoped the CAA would be able to help her discover where the ice came from – but she said she "just happy no-one was hurt".

She said that she would decide in the coming days whether to get the caravan repaired.