DEMOLITION work left residents in Wear Valley with no electricity and one family with a heap of rubble in their yard.

Ian Todd, 41, from Crook, came home to a driveway filled with bricks after developer Miller Homes bulldozed a nearby garage to make way for new houses.

Miller Homes had been granted planning permission for the development last April, but Mr Todd, who lives in Heather Lane, said he had only been given notice shortly before work started.

"I feel that this is a case of a developer pushing through their plans without any regard to ourselves,"

he said. "The rubble was only a matter of feet away from our two-year-old caravan and, if it had fallen on it, would have caused a great deal of damage."

Workmen also severed a cable creating a surge in electricity, which blew the fuses of household appliances.

Mr Todd said his ten-year-old son's Playstation and the washing machine are both broken as a result.

"I'm relying on relatives to help me with my washing. I am grateful that it was electricity, imagine if they got to the gas supply,"

he said.

"In the planning stages, it was agreed that there would be more communication from Miller Homes."

Work on the Heather Lane site is not yet complete because the garage foundations will need to be removed.

Mr Todd said: "I feel they should have spoken to me before this happened, not after. I have By Rachel Wearmouth rachel.wearmouth@nne.co.uk been passed back and forth so many times that I don't have any faith that this won't happen again."

But Michael Dunthorne, technical director for Miller Homes North-East, said residents had been made aware that work was about to start. He said: "We've continued to see demand for quality new build homes increase in the Crook.

"Residents were made aware of work starting on site through a mail drop to 80 houses, including all those on Heather Lane.

"The electricity cut off was an isolated incident and our team worked swiftly to resolve the problem. We are sorry any inconvenience caused to residents."