Pictured: Delivery men leave £2,000 sofa wedged halfway up 'destroyed' stairway

A homeowner has complained his staircase and walls have been “destroyed” after delivery men left a sofa jammed on the stairs.

Luke Ansell ordered the sofa, costing more than £2,000, from online retailer designersofas4u.co.uk after moving into a new home in Bournemouth.

However, the delivery men managed to wedge the furniture in the staircase and then tried to leave before suggesting Mr Ansell cut the bannister down to free it.

“They then said ‘look we’ve got to get back to Birmingham’”, Mr Ansell said.

Photos of the attempted delivery show how the pair left huge holes in the staircase plasterwork, and damage to the woodwork.

A spokesman for the company said they had conducted an internal investigation and disputed Mr Ansell's version of events.

Mr Ansell, who runs a pet grooming service with his wife Elouise, said that the service was “shocking”.

He added: "Honestly it was unbelievable, the sofa was over £2,000 and they caused about that much damage delivering it.”

Mr Ansell said he showed the men where he wanted the sofa and warned them it looked like it would be quite difficult to get it up the stairs.

“I said that it looked quite tight, but they assured me that they do tight deliveries all the time.

"They brought it in, they struggled to get it over the bannister and eventually got it in. But then it got jammed, they couldn't get it up or down.

"Then they said 'look we've got to get back to Birmingham' and tried to leave. They asked me to sign for the delivery - but I refused.

"We had a little bit of an argument about it, and then they suggested I cut away the bannister to get it out. Then they just left it there.”

Mr Ansell claims the delivery men destroyed the plasterboard and the wooden skirting and also damaged the sofa.

Mr Ansell posted a picture of the sofa on a local Facebook group and four "lovely members of the community" came to help him move it upstairs.

Many of the online comments drew comparisons with the episode of TV comedy Friends, in which a sofa is similarly stuck on a staircase and gave rise to the shout of "pivot".

A spokesman for Designersofas4u.co.uk said it had conducted an internal investigation and disputed Mr Ansell's version of events.

He added: "As part of our investigation, it was uncovered that Mr. Ansell was made aware of the delivery space situation by our drivers.

"We have a recorded telephone conversation from Mr Ansell that took place whilst our drivers were on site and before any furniture was taken into the property.

"In this conversation, Mr. Ansell is informing our office “I’ve got your deliverymen here and they don’t seem to think they can get the sofas in here.”  He later goes on to say “Alright we will give it a go."

The company claim that in video clips provided by Mr Ansell, their driver "clearly points out" the sofa will not fit.

They continued: "Our driver is suggesting that he leaves the sofa outside the property and Mr Ansell can take it in himself later.

"As the driver feels the sofa will not pass without damage/scratches.

"To which Mr. Ansell clearly says that’s fine and if it was to happen it would not be the driver's fault."

The company also claimed the sofa was only £1,129.