Sussex pensioners could have Spanish home demolished (From The Argus)

Sussex pensioners could have Spanish home demolished

1:30pm Thursday 31st December 2009 in

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A couple face having their dream retirement villa demolished after officials failed to tell them for seven years that it had been built illegally.

Pensioners Christine and Noel Payne, from Cooksbridge, near Lewes, sold their Sussex home to move abroad in 2000.

But police arrived on their doorstep just before Christmas to tell them their Spanish villa would be bulldozed.

Mr and Mrs Payne and their neighbours were served demolition notices by officers from Spain's Guardia Civil after building licences for their properties were cancelled retrospectively by regional government officials.

The decision was made in 2002 but the residents were not told until police turned up on their doorsteps with court orders.

The couple and almost a dozen of their neighbours have vowed to fight to save their £260,000 homes and hope a last ditch human rights appeal can save them.

Expatriate group Abuos Urbanisticos Almazora No (AUAN) is supporting the Paynes and their neighbours' appeal.