Stockton eyesore building to be demolished
- Published
A 50-year-old derelict office block on Teesside which has been vandalised over the years is to be demolished.
After years of legal wrangling, Stockton Council is to bulldoze Billingham House and will charge the cost to its owner Bizzy B Management.
The former ICI headquarters, in Belasis Avenue, has been attacked by arsonists and vandals over the years and is considered an eyesore by locals.
It will be pulled down in the New Year when a contractor has been found.
A council spokesman said: "The Council has been working with Bizzy B Management Ltd for a number of years and has previously taken legal action following repeated concerns from members of the public about the state of the building.
Every avenue
"We have explored every avenue with the owners to either demolish Billingham House or bring it back into use, but despite these continued efforts they have not been forthcoming.
"We recognise that people have been frustrated for a long time about Billingham House.
"Unfortunately, as it is privately owned we had to go through a lengthy legal process to reach this stage where this unsightly blot will finally be removed from the Billingham landscape."
In 2007 plans to turn the building into flats fell through.