Piers Rance of Fulham was fined £120,000 plus Hammersmith & Fulham Council's costs of around £100,000 for the demolition of a house in Cloncurry Street in a conservation area without planning consent at Isleworth Crown Court on December 13th - £40,000 more than the previous highest fine. His own legal costs were said to be around £300,000 giving a grand total he has to find of £520,000. The house had been valued at £2.2m prior to demolition.
 
Nick Botterill, deputy council leader and cabinet member for environment, said: "Rance showed absolutely no consideration for his neighbours or planning law by demolishing this house in a conservation area. Most people in this borough realise that their actions impact on others, but Rance did not care and did whatever he wanted.
 
"The colossal fine that Rance has been hit with is £40,000 more than the previous highest record fine and reflects how serious his offences are. While we are keen to create a borough of opportunity and welcome responsible development, people simply cannot take matters like this into their own hands."
 
Rance had submitted a planning application to the council in April 2007 to extend his house on Cloncurry Street, Fulham, which included the excavation of a new basement underneath the house, but before the council could make a decision on whether or not to grant planning permission for these extensions, Rance had torn down the house and already begun digging out a new basement area.
 
Rance claimed that the building needed to be demolished as it was in a state of collapse but in his appeal trial, which took place in October, Judge Denniss did not accept this defence stating that it was extremely unlikely that Mr Rance would have purchased a property for £2.2million without carrying out a structural survey unless he always had the intention of demolishing it for financial gain.