World of the Bizarre

London skyscraper is melting cars

By T.K. Randall
September 8, 2013 ·  21 comments

The 'Walkie-Talkie' in London. Image Credit: CC 2.0 David Holt Engineers working on the construction of a new 37-storey building in London have run in to an unexpected problem in the form of a surface so reflective that it has been causing significant damage to cars parked on the street below. Known as the 'Walkie-Talkie' due to its shape, the building has already managed to generate complaints before it has even been completed.Martin Lindsay had been returning to his Jaguar that he'd parked on Thursday afternoon when he found that parts of the vehicle had literally melted. "You can't believe something like this would happen," he said. "They've got to do something about it. It could be dangerous. Imagine if the sun reflected on the wrong part of the body."

In a joint statement, the building's developers and Canary Wharf attempted to allay the public's fears over the incident. "We are aware of concerns regarding the light reflecting from 20 Fenchurch Street and are looking into the matter," they said. "As a precautionary measure, the City of London has agreed to suspend three parking bays in the area which may be affected while we investigate the situation further."

Source: BBC News | Comments (21)

Tags: Sun, Cars, London