under

the strain

AN OFFICE block has cracked under the strain of building work on a neighbouring development.

Accountant Bruce Marshall said large cracks appeared in his ceilings and walls in May when building work started on the former Hewitt's site.

"We have even had water seeping through the ceiling," said Mr Marshall, a tenant since 1991.

"The building shifted so much in two days that structural engineers warned us we would have to vacate if it moved again. Luckily it didn't."

But yesterday (Tuesday) Bill Batley, Mr Marshall's landlord and owner of the neighbouring site, said his property wasn't, and never had been, dangerous.

Last week an arbitrating surveyor was appointed to solve the dispute.

Mr Batley admitted that underpinning on the the office block had to be redone when work first started.

"It has all been fixed now and made secure," he said.

He said his offers to the repair the damage out of business hours had been rejected by the accountancy firm. "We offered to put the cracks right free of charge, but I think basically he would prefer to move out for good," he said.

But Robert Withenshaw, Mr Marshall's business partner, said they would have to relocate during any repair work - and wanted compensation to cover it.

"We would have a lot of down time and would have to shift computers," he said.

He accused their landlord of not giving them the required legal notice before construction work started.

"They just turned up and started working next door.

"It doesn't look as if we have much of a say about the work being carried out."

Mr Batley admitted there had been confusion when worked started but insisted Mr Marshall had received notification.

"He is just making something out of nothing," he said.

Building moves as builders start ball rolling - next door

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.