Last updated at 19:55, Thursday, 21 June 2012

Work has started to demolish a large house at Moor Park, Crosby, which was partially destroyed by fire last summer.

The building, formerly used as offices by social landlord Home Housing, has been unsafe since fire ripped through it last July, causing part of the roof to collapse.

Villager Laura Morgan and her brother Steve Whitehead have taken on the site.

They want planning permission to replace a bungalow there with an adapted bungalow where Laura, who was paralysed from the chest down in a car crash five years ago, can live.

Laura, 47, was struggling to find a suitable home in the village to adapt when Moor Park came onto the market.

It was bought by a trust set up to look after compensation she was paid after her accident.

They have not yet decided what to do with the rest of the prominent site, although housing is an option.

But the pair wanted to knock down the main building as soon as possible to prevent anyone coming to harm, as children had been playing in it.

Allerdale council gave permission for the demolition in March and the work is expected to take two weeks.

Steve, 46, who grew up in the village but now lives in Carlisle, said: “We never really intended to do anything major like this but we couldn’t miss the opportunity.

“The pleasing thing for us is it’s staying within the village.”

He said it would have been too expensive to restore the 1840s’ building.

First published at 19:21, Thursday, 21 June 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk