£500k house without planning is demolished

The four-bedroom house was torn down after it was built six feet higher, nine feet longer and four feet wider than originally applied for by Andrew Murray and his wife Frances.

The property in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, was also built without a permit or approved planning permission in the hope of consent being granted retrospectively.

Fences were erected around the property two weeks ago but by yesterday the house was gone as a digger finished the demolition.

Neighbour John Houston, 76, yesterday welcomed the demolition and said the “eyesore” had blighted the area since it was put up.

He added: “I’m so glad to see it gone. It was an absolute eyesore and blocked the sunlight getting into my house.”

The original plans for the house stated it was to be only two floors high, but an unapproved third floor was later added.

Mr Murray, who lives with his wife Frances, 53, and their family in Strathaven, Lanarkshire, was forced to pay £11,500 to have the property razed to the ground.

It has also been claimed the family will have to sell their current £350,000 Strathaven home to meet their debts.

In a letter to planners at East Dunbartonshire Council, Mr Murray wrote that he had put “trust and faith in the professionalism of our friend who we understood to be a reputable builder who would oversee the project on our behalf”.