Do I pay for boarding-up after police force entry?

I’ve got a flat that was empty for a few weeks as the tenants went on holiday. A neighbour on the second floor hadn’t seen them for a while…and thought he could smell something from my flat. He contacted the agents who look after the block at about 10:30pm. Unwilling to wait for a response, he called the police.

They arrived shortly after and without talking to anyone, smashed the front door literally in two with their “red key”. No looking round, no calling at neighbours to see if they knew where they were…just straight in. The tenants are now being hassled for £210 by the company who made the door “secure”.

It’s nothing to do with the tenants, and naturally, they’re worried. [Incidentally, I’ve no idea where they got the tenant’s name from – looking round the flat?] As the landlord, it obviously falls on me to sort this out.

I do appreciate the company coming out and doing the work. However, I have no contract with these people and don’t want to pay it – I’ve already had a big bill for a new door, locks etc which I deem was unnecessary (the smell according to neighbours was because it was bins day, and we’re on the GF). This cost is adding insult to injury (btw I’ve complained to the police saying they didn’t exercise a duty of care/did no due diligence). I’ve contacted the security company to ask them to stop chasing my tenants…and they say they will pursue them to court to get their money.

In a past life, I worked for a glazing company and the police would call us out to make temporary repairs after break-ins. We’d bill the owner but ultimately would write-off the balance as we did work they didn’t ask for.

That was about 25 years ago now, so things may have changed since then.

Has anyone gone through this before? Any advice on what I should do?

Thanks in advance.

Neil