The developer who pulled down a Victorian property situated on the picturesque Newcastle promenade could be forced to rebuild the three storey home, and face a fine of up to £30,000, it has been revealed.

Demolition men - hired by John Fitzpatrick - flattened the end terrace house in the early hours of Sunday morning, much to the surprise of neighbours, who awoke to the sound of 'banging and crashing'.

It has been reported that planners could now force the developer to rebuild the home, which has been reduced to a pile of rubble.

Caroline Richman, who lives next door to the site, witnessed the heavy machinery tearing down the house.

The mother of four evacuated her family from their home over safety concerns.

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Mrs Richman has since been told by engineers that rubble currently resting close to her property could put pressure on her walls.

A spokesman for the Department of Environment said officials were assessing their options, which could include serving an enforcement notice instructing the developer to rebuild the property.

"The financial penalty is a matter for the courts. The maximum fine for the demolition of a building can be up £30,000 in a magistrates court," said the spokesman.

"An enforcement case has now been opened on this matter and it would not be appropriate to comment further."

It is believed planning officials had visited the site on Friday, to discover windows and roof tiles had been removed, this however does not constitute demolition work.

"Although some window frames and roof tiles had been removed this did not constitute demolition work therefore they could not place a stop notice on the site as there was no breach at that stage," the spokesman added.

Local MLA Jim Wells has described the weekend incident as an "act of vandalism".

"The developer knew that enforcement officers do not work at weekends and sent in the bulldozers," he said.

"What needs to be done is the imposition of another penalty which the law provides for and that is full restoration by the developer at his expense.

"I'll be pushing the Planning Service for that," added the south Down assembly man.

(PR/JM)