Council 'grotbusters' target house

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Edgar Lawrance, 74, and his wife Marianne, 79, from Brixham, South Devon, are being given until September to clean up their terraced property or face enforcement proceedings from Torbay Council under their "grotbusting" scheme.

Mr Lawrance, the chairman of Brixham Amenities and Residents' Association, said he was stunned to receive such a threatening letter.

He said one of their walls on Bolton Street is very close to the road so after a wet winter is "a bit dirty" and he was planning to paint the house anyway.

"I always thought an Englishman's home is his castle," he said. "It's my private property and we have lived here for 22 years. As the chairman of the residents' association I cannot afford to have my property looking dowdy."

The council's "grotbusting" scheme has seen the authority send out letters to property owners in an attempt to tidy up the resort. The letter explains residents have 10 working days to inform the council when they will get the work done.

It also said if "prompt progress" is not made the council could serve an enforcement notice on them under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act.

The letter states that if residents failed to do the work within nine months, it is classed as a criminal offence and they face being taken to court where they could be fined up to £1,000, with a £100 a day top-up fine until work is completed.

The council defended the campaign and said it has already succeeded in improving nine properties and they are currently working on another 73 cases.

It is being modelled on a similar scheme in Hastings, East Sussex, where more than 350 buildings were transformed under the supervision of the borough council's "grotbusters" team. The Hastings initiative, running for the past seven years, has been held up as an example of best practice with around 50 other councils keen to run similar projects.