The city council have forced the sale of a dilapidated and neglected Worcester property which had been empty for around a decade and had been subject to reports of an alleged vermin infestation.
The property on Chestnut Walk was also blighted by hugely overgrown vegetation in the garden and had a hole in its roof.
But the owner failed to comply within the necessary three months, so the council carried out the work and put a local land charge on the property to recoup its costs.
Vice-chair of the city council’s Communities Committee, Green Councillor Neil Laurenson, said: “It has not been an easy process and it is a last resort, but it is important for absent owners to remember that they still have responsibilities to their neighbours and the wider community.”