Glare From This London Skyscraper Is Melting Cars

Building has been nicknamed the 'Walkie Scorchie'
By Ruth Brown,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 2, 2013 4:01 PM CDT
The Glare From This London Skyscraper is Melting Cars
The "Walkie Talkie" building.   (Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group)

A new London skyscraper appears to be acting like a giant magnifying glass. But instead of burning ants, it's melting cars. A man says his Jaguar sustained about $1,470 in damage after he left it parked for two hours near the 37-story building, which is still under construction, the BBC reports. When he returned to his car, he found parts of it, including a wing mirror and a badge, had been warped out of shape. On his windshield was a note from the construction company: "Your car's buckled, could you give us a call?"

Last week, a van near the skyscraper—which had been nicknamed the "Walkie Talkie" but has now been re-dubbed the "Walkie Scorchie"—was also damaged by the building's glare, when a bottle of soda melted onto its dashboard, the Telegraph reports. "We are aware of concerns regarding the light reflecting from 20 Fenchurch Street and are looking into the matter," the building's developers said in a statement. “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." (Click for the wild tale of another problematic skyscraper.)

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