Shock as dream home lies in ruins

The listed house collapsed on Monday

A businessman has been surveying the ruins of his dream home in east Devon after half of it collapsed just a fortnight after he bought it.

Anthony Charles bought the end-terrace property in Ottery St Mary two weeks ago and builders had just started work on a £50,000 renovation project.

The listed house with its original Devon cob walls had stood for nearly 200 years until Monday.

Investigations are now under way to find what caused the house to collapse.

Witnesses spoke of hearing a rumble, followed by clouds of dust as part of Digby Cottage collapsed.

Digby Cottage had stood for almost 200 years

Next-door neighbour Philippa Hope was one of the first on the scene.

"I was in the back garden and heard this rumble, this noise, and a cloud of dust, so I came through and discovered the house next-door to us had fallen down," she said.

Mr Charles said it could have been a disaster for the builders

He said: "They were sitting under the scaffolding because it was a hot day.

"They were all having their lunch here .

"They went home at five. This happened just after six.

"If it had gone at two o'clock they would all have been stone dead, the lot of them."

Mr Charles, who bought the property for £200,000, said surveyors would be inspecting the property and building inspectors from the district council would also be looking at the damage.

He hopes it will still be possible to restore the property to its former glory.