Builder knocks down unpaid work

Nigel Gray used a sledgehammer to demolish the porch

A builder who was unable to persuade a customer to pay for improvements to a council house has taken drastic action and demolished his work.

Nigel Gray, 44, knocked down the porch and conservatory, worth £15,000, from the property in Shoreham, West Sussex.

The tenant, who had permission from the council to make improvements to the house, offered a string of excuses and missed deadlines for payment, he said.

Adur District Council said the tenant would have to pay to clear the rubble.

Mr Gray used a sledgehammer to break up the porch from Anita Dovey's home, removed the conservatory one window at a time and removed the French doors.

I'm absolutely gutted to have had to have done this but I could not just let this go Nigel Gray

The work had been done for an agreed fee of £15,000, but Mr Gray said he had been driven to distraction by his customer's repeated failure to pay.

"I'm absolutely gutted to have had to do this because it was such fantastic handiwork but I could not just let this go," Mr Gray said.

"We just kept on getting a string of excuses and bounced cheques."

When the work was not paid for, Mr Gray said he gained the consent from the local council to demolish his building work.

Mr Gray said: "I have got two businesses and I may have to close my limited company as a result of all this.

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Nigel Gray tells Rober Hall how he took drastic action when he didn't get paid

"It has been very stressful on my partner and family who have also had to deal with it all."

He estimated that the building work, legal fees, bank charges and lost work cost him about £22,000.

A spokesman for Adur District Council said: "Council tenants are allowed to make improvements to their home. Unfortunately in this case this private agreement has gone wrong.

"Mrs Dovey will be billed the cost of putting the property back to its original state."

Mrs Dovey declined to comment.