"House collapse man loses £30,000 battle" (from Cambridge Evening News)

A builder has failed in his court attempt to avoid a £30,000 bill after his house was ruled to be in danger of collapse.

Khalid Malik, 31, was refused permission by the Appeal Court to challenge a county court decision last August, allowing the Cambridge City Council to claim money from him.

The council took control of his property in Ross Street, Cambridge, in July 2001 after safety concerns about building work on the site.

Officers put in supports at the sides of excavations and scaffolding to support a gable wall that had become unstable after a four-metre hole was dug at the back of the property and 240 tonnes of soil removed.

The court heard that Mr Malik bought the house in November 2000 and obtained planning permission for a new building on vacant land next to his home and for an extension to his property.

But during routine inspections in July 2001, council officials discovered that only six bricks were preventing Mr Malik's home collapsing.

At the Appeal Court in London, Andrew Gore, counsel for Mr Malik, claimed Cambridge County Court judge had been wrong in finding that steps taken by the council were reasonably necessary for the purpose of removing the alleged danger at the premises.

Mr Gore claimed the judge had failed to give adequate reasons for accepting the evidence of the council's expert witness as opposed to that of the defendant.

Rejecting the application for permission to appeal against the findings, Lord Justice Pill, sitting with Lord Justice Latham, said: "This is not a bland unreasoned acceptance of the council's expert witness."

He said the judge had been entitled to prefer the evidence of the council's witness. Cambridge City Council was not represented at the hearing.