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Good news has come at last for the British couple whose £600,000 Spanish villa was demolished over supposed building irregularities. Len and Helen Prior, who retired to southern Spain from Berkshire six years ago, have been told the demolition was illegal.

Home demolished

The couple in Vera, Almeria were the first British expatriates to have their home demolished after the Spanish authorities clamped down on the widespread flouting of planning laws.

The couple however, have always insisted they had the correct planning permission as issued by their local town hall.

Demolition carried out illegally

Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled recently in favour of the Priors and said that the demolition had been carried out illegally. It ruled that the Priors had not been made aware of a crucial court case in which the building’s fate was decided. The couple now plan to use the ruling to support their claim for compensation.

Mrs Prior, who has been living along with her husband in a garage on the site of their former home without access to mains electricity or water for the past 15 months, said: “We’ve been fighting our corner ever since the demolition and this is a major victory for us.

“The Constitutional Court has ruled the authorities acted illegally when they knocked down our home. We still haven’t had a penny in compensation but we are now in a stronger position to claim,” she said.

The Priors have already spent more than £25,000 on legal fees and now plan to sue the Ministry of Justice and the regional government who issued the demolition order, claiming the property was built on protected land.

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