A MAN who demolished a 19th century glasshouse at a grade 2 listed building in Droitwich has been ordered to pay fines and costs of £5,520.

51-year-old Duccio Latino Senese Baldi of Cummins Farm Cottages in Worcester, pleaded guilty at Worcester Magistrates Courts to carrying out the works after a member of the public informed Wychavon District Council that he was demolishing the structure.

The glasshouse, which Baldi jointly owns, was one of two in a walled garden at Westwood House in Westwood Park, which had been built in the late 19th century, and restored in 2005.

The restoration of the glasshouses had been part of a listed building planning permission that enabled the owner at the time to build an architect designed house against the kitchen wall, while restoring the glasshouses. The planning permission had been subject to a legal agreement requiring the owner at the time to carry out repair and restoration works to the glasshouses, the kitchen garden and the 18th century garden wall.

Wychavon District Council was alerted to the demolition by a member of the public as it was taking place on September 3, 2014, but by the time council officers got to the site they discovered that one of the glasshouses had been almost completely demolished and that the glazed timber frames and broken glass from the glasshouse had been thrown into a skip.

Sue Marsh, planning solicitor at Wychavon District Council, said: “We are pleased with the outcome of this prosecution as it helps us to highlight the need to protect historical, listed properties in the district and the need for owners of such properties to be aware of their responsibilities when it comes to preservation.”

The fines and costs have to be paid within 28 days and the glasshouse will now have to be rebuilt.