Kevin and Karen Pittman had just left their house on Millingford Avenue, Golborne, with their two young children to spend an afternoon in a local park when the key broke off in the door.

The couple called the company from who they had purchased the door for help, but were told that because it had changed its name their four year guarantee was now worthless.

Karen said: "We had spent half an hour trying to get the key out of the door but without any luck, which had been very frustrating.
"We then called Majestic Conservatories & Windows, who we had bought two doors and two windows from for £4,000 around three years ago.

"We had a four year guarantee and so thought that they would be able to help us with our situation.
"But because the company has been bought by Lancashire Double Glazing, and now carries that name, we were told that our guarantee no longer existed. We were absolutely gobsmacked."

The company says it offered to help – but the family did not want to accept a call-out charge.
Luckily the couple and their daughters, four-year-old Lily and seven-month-old Poppy, had the spare key to the home of Kevin's sister-in-law who is holiday and lives across the road from them.

Kevin forced the front door of their home open by spraying WD40 into the lock at around 7pm on the same evening.

The 34-year-old said: "I explained to Lancashire Double Glazing I had
been stuck outside the house for hours with my wife and children and needed some help.
"But, I got the impression that they just didn't want to know."

Geoff Kirkbright, installations manager at Lancashire Double Glazing, said: "When the purchase of Majestic Conservatories & Windows was made last year the customer database at the time was not passed over to us.

"Therefore, the guarantee that Mr and Mrs Pittman had with the company is unfortunately no longer valid.
"We did offer to send a workman to the house, out of hours, to replace the lock but explained that there was a standard £90 call out charge which they declined to accept."