Social landlord Luminus has been forced to apologise after it mistakenly disposed of a disabled grandmother’s lifelong possessions.

Delena Campbell, 52, said she has been left with just a few items of clothing and toiletries after a garage in Eynesbury was cleared of her belongings without prior warning.

“I had 52 years’ worth of my life in there,” she said. “I was dumbfounded. I’d had no notification or anything.”

Ms Campbell, who has a daughter and two grandchildren, made the discovery last week and assumed the contents had been stolen.

“I called the police,” she said. “It had been chock-a-block and to have lost all that, I could not believe it.”

She had rented the garage from Luminus and says she was up-to-date with payments. It had been filled with goods including a washing machine, tumble dryer, various pieces of kitchen equipment, china ornaments packed away in boxes and furniture such as a wardrobe and chest of drawers.

There were also a number of irreplaceable items, said Ms Campbell, and it was losing them that had hurt the most. “There were mum and dad’s wedding photos, pictures of my daughter, things that my mum left to me and it’s all gone. I’ve hardly got anything left. I am so gutted.”

When Luminus was contacted, Ms Campbell says she was told the landlords could not say what had happened to her possessions. It has since admitted responsibility and has asked her to compile a list of what has gone missing.

Ms Campbell said she had effectively been homeless after losing her home in January, so had used the garage for storage. She had been living at a mobile home park in Howitts Lane, Eynesbury but was forced to give it up following a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act after being convicted in 2008 of drug offences and selling contraband cigarettes.

Ms Campbell, who suffers from a number of health problems, said she had put her past behind her and was trying to move on.

A Luminus spokesman said the clearance had been sanctioned because it was believed to have been an abandoned garage. “It was unlocked and appeared to contain nothing of obvious value,” she added. “We were subsequently notified the garage was rented by a former tenant.

“Luminus has apologised and we will ensure any items that have been retained are returned and any items of value replaced.”

Other than referring to Ms Campbell’s drugs conviction, Luminus could not confirm what had happened to her possessions or whether anything had been retained.