I was driving off a small private car park (which serves a Blockbuster Video store, to which I had just returned dvds) when a large, steel security gate at the end of the building, (which is supposed to secure the external fire escape stairs serving the upper storey of the building) swung open and hit my passenger side wing causing an estimated £500 worth of damage.

It transpired that the loose gate had been reported by the upstairs tenant's via email and, on a couple of occasions, to the landlords, but nothing had been done (the problem was that the latch on the gate was rusted in the open position).

I have photos and the upstairs tenants (a housing association company) also took photos and saw the damage sustained by my vehicle.

I have written to the Landlord and provided full details and photos, asking how they wish to proceed, but no response yet. I feel they must be liable, as the problem of the loose gate attached to their building had been reported but they did nothing about it until, of course, the day my car was hit and their tenants rang to inform them of the fact. At that point someone was dispatched to fix it within hours.

Am I correct in thinking that even though the car park has the usual "at owners risk" notice displayed, a fixture from the building itself swinging out and hitting me makes the Landlord liable to pay for the damage to my vehicle?