A COURT has ordered owners of a dangerous building to demolish a wall which could topple into an adjacent car park.

The building, at Merchants Place, on River Street, Bolton, near St Peter’s Way, has stood empty for years, with missing windows and vegetation growing out of the structure.

And when cracks developed in a parapet wall at the top of the building Bolton Council feared it could be dangerous.

When attempts to persuade the building’s owners, Excellency Capital Ltd, to make the building safe failed the council took the company to court, applying for an order under Section 77 of the Building Act 1984.

The company did not send a representative to Bolton Magistrates’ Court for the hearing yesterday, during which Iain Mackay, a principal development officer for Bolton Council, told how he had first been alerted to a fracture in the parapet wall on February 2.

“That section of the wall abuts a car park. If it falls down, it can fall into the car park,” said Mr Mackay.

“It is dangerous. They would have to remove the brick wall altogether or take it down and rebuild it.”

He added that the last time he visited the building was on Friday last week and no work had been done on the structure.

Magistrates granted the order and Excellency Capital, based at Abbey House, Lever Street, Bolton, now has 28 days to complete the work to make the building safe.

If they fail to do so then Bolton Council can employ contractors to demolish the wall and will then send the bill to the building’s

owners.