'Council demolished my garage without permission'

A woman said she lost thousands of pounds worth of property when council workers demolished her garage without permission.

Annette Holliday's garage in Tuckers Road, Loughborough, was one of four to be damaged during work to remove a fallen tree, which had led to a report of asbestos debris at the site.

Charnwood Borough Council said the building was deemed "structurally unsafe" and needed to be demolished but the garage owners said they had not been informed.

The authority has apologised and said it had been "wrongly identified" that the council was the owner of the garages.

Ms Holliday said branches of the tree were sawn through in December, damaging the roof of her garage and another neighbour's.

They believed the council had sent these workers, however the authority denied this, saying an unknown third-party contractor had removed the fallen tree.

The 62-year-old said she and the other garage owners were not informed about the visit and she had lost thousands of pounds worth of property after the contents of the garages were thrown into a tip, adding the the demolition had devalued her home.

Standing next to the site which had since been fenced off, Ms Holliday told the BBC: "All I know is I've now got a square where my garage used to be".

In May, Ms Holliday said she was contacted by a neighbour who told her someone was "dismantling" her garage.

The only item she was able to retrieve was her trike but more than £5,000 worth of her belongings were lost.

Ms Holliday said: "This massive skip came, and everyone's belongings went in there.

"Then everyone just disappeared, and there was no garage left."

Ms Holliday added: "I was getting on with other stuff that was going off in my life, and then the next minute everything stopped.

"They've taken my property, and I've heard nothing."

A spokesperson confirmed the council had received the report of asbestos debris being found at the site of four garages at the site on 12 May, and a specialist contractor attended the site on 20 May.

They added: "It was determined the garages were structurally unsafe and a risk to life, contained damaged sheet asbestos, and needed to be demolished. Fencing was placed around the garages and the contractor demolished the garages on 22 May.

"At the time of demolition, it had been wrongly identified that the council was the owner of the garages.

"We have since spoken to the owner of the site, Mrs Holliday, and apologised for this error and for any inconvenience and distress caused.

"We are now reviewing our processes to ensure a similar situation does not happen again.

"Ultimately, the garages would need to have been removed as they were unsafe.

"However, where items such as electrical goods and soft furnishings may have become contaminated, they do need to be disposed of as they cannot be safely cleaned. The contractor was able to retain some items found in one of the garages.

"We are aware that a nearby tree was cut down by a third party, but the tree was not owned by the council, and it was not on council land."

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