Last updated 12:00, Thursday, 04 September 2008

A WHITEHAVEN man has been given court clearance to live in a house declared dangerous.

declared dangerous: Dennis Rawstron’s Windermere Road home which needs vital work carried out on it

Magistrates have decided that Dennis Rawstron can stay for the next three weeks at least while vital remedial work is carried out. But Copeland Council wanted the 61-year-old to move out for his own safety.

Mr Rawstron owns the house on Windermere Road, Woodhouse, but the council is worried not only for his own safety but also the potential risk faced by any visitors and neighbours.

He has been given 21 days to carry out the court-ordered work pending a full structural survey to assess the full extent of what needs to be done. He had failed to comply with a previous council request to do the work “to protect both your interests and those of your neighbours”.

Whitehaven magistrates agreed to one part of Copeland Council’s court application, enforcing Mr Rawstron to carry out the initial safety work, but turned down a second part requiring him to leave the house while it is done.

“The building is in such a condition as to be dangerous,” said Marlene Jewell, for the council.

Mr Rawstron, who formerly ran a photographic business in Cleator Moor, told the court: “I would rather live on the streets or go to prison than leave my house. I have nowhere else to go.”

Copeland Council building control experts say they have never come across a case like it. The former council house is in danger of collapse due to overloading in upstairs rooms. The owner had knocked down a wall dividing the living room from the kitchen and installed a steel beam which wasn’t strong enough to carry the excessive load.

Magistrates said they accepted a structural engineer’s report “that the house is at risk of collapse in its current condition”.

But regarding any restriction on residential use, presiding magistrate Doug McNichollas told Mr Rawstron: “We are dismissing this application to allow you to carry out work as you have nowhere else to live.”

Copeland’s building control manager, Mark Key, said: “Every upstairs room was packed full of material, from machinery, construction tools, old TVs and cabinets – all sorts, really. A steel beam was supporting the first floor because of the wall being removed.”

Two of the three bedrooms had materials stacked up to the ceiling. One of the rooms was a bridge link with an adjoining house. Part of this was stacked with plasterboard and other effects.

The bathroom contained fish tanks and electrical equipment. The loft space was also full, the chimney stack having been removed up to the roof space.

Asked whether removal of the material would be enough to alleviate the danger, Mr Key answered “No” on the basis of the structural report. “It is a matter of getting out the materials to an acceptable level to allow a further analysis of the structural work which needs to be carried out.

“There’s a lot of work involved and Mr Rawstron has been in a difficult situation. He fully understands what’s required, but we have to take into account other people here, visitors to the house and neighbours. Suffice to say you can go into the house and it hits you straight away.

“This is a new one on everybody, not a straightforward matter.”

Mr Kay said the bridge room was also of concern to the next door house where the lady occupier was very ill.

“If the first floor collapsed or the roof collapsed there is a pretty good chance it could have an effect on anybody around,” he warned.

In the witness box, Mr Rawstron said: “Give me 21 days to see that I am doing the work and then I will know what needs to be done. I will be able to reduce the weight by getting rid of beds and wardrobes.”

Asked whether he accepted the house was dangerous, he replied: “It has been like this since 2002. I got a builder in to do the original work and he said that the beam in his opinion was adequate. The builder has moved and I don’t know his phone number or address.

“I can get the house safe in three or four weeks, but I would like to stay in because I have absolutely nowhere else to go.”

Like others on the estate, he said he understood his house was due for demolition but no date was fixed.

Outside the court, he said he was grateful the magistrates had given him time to do the work and the chance to stay in his house.

Next-door neighbour Sandra Broughton said: “I am sick of it all, it’s a disgrace and needs sorted.”