A house has been left in partial ruin after a dispute between a builder and a homeowner.
The property is in a tree-lined avenue with detached homes and average property values of £540,000. But, unlike the other homes there, one is in quite a severe state with the roof gone and rubble surrounding it.
According to the owner, it follows a dispute over money with a builder employed to carry out work there, who then allegedly decided to undo some of the renovations that had been carried out.
The 40-year-old owner of the house, in Guilford Road, Stoneygate, Leicester, who bought it last year, told LeicestershireLive : "I bought the house last year. The builder started in February and we wanted lots of work done so it could become our family home for six of us. We wanted a two-storey extension, a new roof, new wiring and for it to be more environmentally-friendly."
He claimed that after refusing to pay the builder £3,500, the property was left in its current state and the scaffolding was then retrieved by the scaffolding company.
The owner said: "I had gone on holiday and was 200 miles away when it all happened on Tuesday. I've contacted the police, who said it was a dispute and not a criminal case, and I've emailed Trading Standards. I'm still on holiday so it's difficult to sort out from here."
A neighbour told LeicestershireLive that the building work had left the street a mess. They claimed: "The work had been going on and there was scaffolding up and it all had planning permission. Then people noticed the builders starting to remove things and demolish the work that had been done. The neighbours are really upset with how it looks and the fact it has also ruined the pavement."
The owner told LeicestershireLive he would contact Leicester City Council about the pavement when he returned home.
