End of an era for Seaham couple

Two families have lost their fight to save their homes from being demolished.

Tom Bamburgh and his wife Carrie have lived in Daphne Crescent, Seaham, County Durham, for 50 years, with Mrs Bamburgh growing up there.

When other families moved out of the Parkside estate to make way for a multi-million pound scheme to rebuild the area, they stayed where they were.

The Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett has now ruled that their house, and another in the street, should be demolished.

Human rights

Seaham's Parkside estate is being rebuilt at a cost of around £13.5m.

There will be three and four bedroomed homes for sale, and some smaller ones for rent, in a project being carried out by Easington Council in partnership with Persimmon builders.

When the plans were fist announced in 1999, there was much opposition, but everyone settled on deals to move out, apart from two households, including the Bamburghs.

Mr Bamburgh argued unsuccessfully that it was against his human rights to turn someone out of his home.