A DILAPIDATED Victorian coaching house being held up by a tree will be turned into a unique home.

The two-storey building, behind Medivet, in Leigham Court Drive, Leigh, was approved for demolition three times in the Eighties due to its poor state of disrepair.

However, its future has now been sealed after Southend Council granted permission for it be turned into a house.

At about 250sq ft feet per floor, the finished property will be about the size of two double garages, with a living room and toilet on the ground floor, and bedroom and bathroom on the first floor.

Neighbour Stan Hamberger, 77, said he wishes developer Joe Thomas well, but is sceptical about the building's potential to be converted into a home.

He fears the former stables could collapse at any moment due to a large crack down one side.

Mr Hamberger said: “I tried to buy it in 1977 but the fella wanted £26,000 for it. It was owned by a plumbing company with a workshop below and an office above but it’s sat there empty since the fella gave up his business.

“Since then, it’s been filling up with rubbish and falling apart, and a tree has been holding it up. It’s not much bigger than my garden shed and there’s a crack that’s split the wall all the way down on one side. We’re just waiting for it to collapse.

“It seems amazing to me anyone thinks they can build anything in there.”

A report prepared by council officer Ian Harrison also noted the building’s proximity to an electricity substation- but this was not found to be grounds to reject the application.

He said: “It is a concern that the adjacent electricity substation would generate noise that might harm the amenities of future occupants.

“However, this would be a noise inflicted upon the proposed development rather than caused by the development, and as such it is considered that this is not a matter that is able to be given consideration by the Local Planning Authority.”

According to local historian Arthur Woodward, 75, the building was originally constructed as a stables and blacksmiths for the local bailiffs’ court.

He also has concerns about its ability to become a home.

He said: “If you go back 150 years or so, there was a bailiffs’ court right near it and that was the stable for it with a blacksmiths’ shop – I even have the old anvil that used to be there.

“There’s no electricity or gas connected to it, though, and they’ll have a hell of a job fixing it up.”