A couple whose wedding day was ruined after part of a Dundee hotel roof collapsed have struck a deal with the facility’s owner.
The Courier revealed last month how both Gary and Emily Parkin and Keith and Sharon Clark were forced to evacuate the Queens Hotel after debris fell from the venue’s roof, hitting Gary’s best man and brother Neil on the head.
Newly married Keith and Sharon had been enjoying their wedding reception in a second floor function suite when the incident occurred.
Following the ceiling collapse, Keith, 50, and Sharon, 46, were evacuated along with everyone else in the venue.
The couple had drinks in the nearby Medina restaurant before being allowed back into the building.
Keith and Sharon, whose bad luck continued after discovering their honeymoon to Malta was booked through now defunct Low Cost Holidays, will now have their first anniversary party paid for by Queens Hotel owner Gordon Sneddon.
Speaking after agreeing a compensation package with the hotel, Keith told The Courier: “We got word from the Queens on the Wednesday we came home from Malta and are quite happy with what they’ve offered.
“They’re paying for our first anniversary party, which is quite good.
“It’s all been sorted. We’re happy it’s done.”
A spokeswoman for the Queens Hotel confirmed Mr Sneddon has agreed to fund both couples’ first anniversary celebrations — regardless of where the events are held.
The other couple involved in the incident, the Parkins, were set to slice their cake when “concrete” and plaster plummeted from the building’s ceiling seconds after celebratory balloons had been released.
Speaking the morning after the accident, unlucky groom Gary Parkin’s father, Bill, told The Courier the newlyweds have been left devastated by how their big day unfolded.
He said: “We’d only been in the place 40 minutes – the place was only just beginning to fill up.
“All Emily wants to do is go down to Queen’s and draw a line under it.
“They’re both understandably gutted. The day was ruined by half past eight.”
