A Horwich woman was fuming when she returned home from work to find that builders working on her neighbour's house had demolished a wall in her back yard.

Workers from the North British Housing Association were carrying out work at one of their houses in Stevenson Street, Horwich as part of a £200,000 refurbishment programme in the area.

The house next door on the terraced row is owned by Dorothy Fairhurst but the builders knocked down a dividing wall between the two properties believing they were both owned by NBH.

Mrs Fairhurst, who had paid £300 to have the wall erected several years ago returned home from work at a local packaging firm open mouthed to find nothing but a pile of rubble separating the two yards.

She told the Evening News: "I couldn't believe it. I came in from work last night and it had been demolished without any warning at all.

"I want to know why on earth anyone would demolish a wall between two properties without getting the permission of the other property owners."

Mrs Fairhurst is consulting a solicitor for advice about what action to take against the housing association.

A spokesman for North British Housing said the demolition was a genuine mistake and they have offered to rebuild the wall.

Bolton's Area Technical Manager, Barry Watson said: "The builders mistakenly knocked down the wall because they thought we owned both houses. We very much regret what happened and we will be sending a letter of apology to Mrs Fairhurst."

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