Owner of dangerous Wigan building which needed demolishing faces trial for refusing to do work on it

The owner of a Wigan building which caused chaos after requiring emergency demolition will face trial for refusing to carry out work on it.
The building on Bridge Street in HindleyThe building on Bridge Street in Hindley
The building on Bridge Street in Hindley

Zuhrarajih Jifan did not appear at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court, where she was accused of failing to comply with legal instructions over the premises on Bridge Street, Hindley, but sent a letter suggesting she wanted to plead not guilty.

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The court fixed a trial date in her absence and expects her to appear on April 16.

Jifan, from Sutton in London, is charged with failing to reinstate or rebuild a party wall, remove debris, make a basement wall safe and remove a section of shop front still there.

She is also accused of not making the whole building watertight and structurally stable.

The case against Jifan is a private prosecution brought by Wigan Council as work ordered was not completed in time.

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Bridge Street, which is an important through-road in Hindley, had to be shut entirely for several days last February, after the former commercial premises was feared to be on the verge of collapse.

Drivers had to find alternative routes for three days and pedestrians could not walk by the site for an even longer period.

The incident caused massive disruption and ward councillors at the time blasted Jifan as being extremely unhelpful.

The town hall has made several attempts to resolve the situation, including offering to buy the eyesore, but all its efforts have been in vain.

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Mark Thompson, owner of Alpha Hire next door, told the Wigan Post last spring that he had had “no end of problems” since the building came down, including a pigeon infestation and a plunge in temperature which left a tenant “freezing”.