By Lars Niven

A FIFE pensioner forced to leave her derelict home after the council declared it was dangerous now faces the prospect of seeing it demolished in front of her eyes.

Bridget Rush, from Glencraig, thought her cottage had been saved after a firm of builders stepped in at the 11th hour and offered to renovate the property for free.

Angus McLean and his colleagues at Foundation Services & Earth Works Ltd were moved by reports that Miss Rush was to be evicted after a long battle with Fife Council.

They offered to carry out the work themselves, and appealed to fellow tradesmen and suppliers to donate the necessary materials.

They even delivered a caravan to Largo Cottages for the 77-year-old to stay in while they carried out an estimated £40,000 worth of repairs to the building.

At the time Miss Rush, known locally as Biddy, was bowled over by their offer, saying, “This is a miracle. Here I was; I hadn’t a hope at all, and then this.”

However, her joy was short-lived as FSEW Ltd asked her to sign a document stating the property would pass to a worthy cause, or community use, when she dies.

FSEW Ltd and those who have agreed to help with the project are concerned that if they do the house up a relative of Miss Rush’s might appear and inherit the lot.

For the last fives weeks Miss Rush, known locally as Biddy, has steadfastly refused to sign the agreement.

She told The Courier, “I thought it was wonderful, but the miracle has turned into a mirage.

“This man came out and said they would do the work for nothing. Nothing was ever mentioned about agreements. If there had been any mention of conditions I would have chased him.”

For years the property has been steadily disintegrating around Miss Rush. There are holes in the roof, the ceilings are in danger of caving in, the property is riddled with damp and most of the floorboards and fittings have collapsed. Miss Rush had no electricity and cooked on an open coal fire.

She was due to be evicted at the end of July by the council, which four years ago won a court order to evict her.

It was on the eve of her eviction that FSEW stepped in. Mr McLean confirmed yesterday, “We have got a few problems we need to try and sort out. We are just concerned that when all this work is carried out a niece or a nephew might appear and put the property on the market for about £250,000.

“How would you feel about that?”

Graeme McRoberts, Fife Council’s head of local services, said, “Miss Rush has refused the builder’s request to sign over the house to a charity of her choice.

“The builder’s position is that they have a number of colleagues and suppliers who are prepared to put forward skills and materials.

“However, the majority of them are saying what they don’t want is to complete the work only for a relative to appear on the scene and say ‘thank you very much’.”

He added, “We are really back to where we were.

“We had to get Miss Rush out of the house because it was in a dangerous condition.

“A caravan was put on the site to allow her to live there while the builders were working on her house.

“Because that is not now happening, we will have to review the situation with a view to demolition of the building.”

Mr McRoberts confirmed he was planning to meet the council’s legal team next week to discuss the situation, but said they were running out of options.

“It looks like we will have to tell Miss Rush that her building plan has not come to fruition and we now need to proceed with demolition of her property,” he added.

“We wanted to give the builders time to work with her and get the whole thing moving, but we can’t let this situation go on indefinitely.”

If the local authority does decide Miss Rush has had enough time she will be sent a letter informing her of the decision to demolish her property.

The work could be carried out as early as the beginning of next month.