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quote:

'It was like something from Apocalypse Now': Family tell how £500,000 home was flattened just two weeks after they sold it

A married couple who agreed to sell their £500,000 family home after they were made an offer they couldn't refuse are furious the new owners have knocked it down despite not having planning permission.

Peter and Jennifer Watt had lived in the three-storey house in Grimsby for 16 years and had no intention of moving.

But after putting attached land which has planning permission for two homes on the market with Scotts Properties, a buyer offered to pay over-market value for the whole site.

Believing the new owners were keen to move into their beloved home, Mr and Mrs Watt agreed and left within a week of the deal.

But on March 15 - just two weeks later - huge JCBs moved onto the site and demolished the house that had been there since the 1970s.

Powerless neighbours watched in shock as the machines tore the house down, in a scene they compared to the helicopter attack in cult film 'Apocalypse Now'.

North East Lincolnshire Council has confirmed it was done without planning permission, destroying all trees on the site, including one ash subject to a Tree Preservation Order.

An investigation has been launched.

Mr and Mrs Watts said: 'It's horrifying. We are shell shocked. We just can't believe it has happened.

'It was a beautiful family home filled with memories.

'The neighbours must have been terrified. Imagine settling down for your tea and then seeing that?'

Equipment was seen pulling rubble away leaving behind nothing but the chimney stump and a few tree twigs.

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, saw curtains, still attached to window panes and on poles, flapping.

Carpets, fridges and an oven left in good will by the Watts were also ripped out.

The woman said: 'It was complete and utter devastation.

'Everyone saw them do it but no-one could stop them. We couldn't ring the council because everyone had gone home for the day. It all happened so quickly.'

Another neighbour added: 'There is nothing left but a few twigs. How they did it I don't know. It is unbelievable.'

Lawrence Brown, of Scotts Properties, said they were 'unaware of the buyer's intentions', adding: 'Both Scotts and the original owner believed the buyer's intention was to live in the property.

'We were as surprised as everyone else to find it has since been demolished.'

Jason Longhurst, Head of development at NELC, said: 'We are treating this as a serious incident.

'We are gathering evidence to establish what has happened and will pursue the appropriate course of action.'

http://www.dailymail.co.u(...)en-offer-refuse.html