A PRESTON pensioner is vowing to carry on fighting for justice after being forced to pay council tax on a house destroyed by thugs looking for a police informer.

Widow Evadne Whyte, 73, has had to pay half council tax rates on the vandalised house in Andrew Street, Ribbleton - despite not being able to live in it for the past two years.

And the only offer of help from the council came in the form of a 'grant' that entailed Evadne raising £4,000 of her own money.

And part of the deal is that the housing association recoup their £9,000 contribution over six to ten years - leaving Evadne with just £50 revenue per month from the house.

But when Evadne invited two builders to the house, they said they could repair it for just £4,000 - the amount the council told her she would have to borrow - not £14,000, as estimated by the housing association.

A spokesman from Preston Borough Council's Revenue Services said that the building had to be uninhabited, unfurnished and suffering severe structural damage before it could be ruled exempt from council tax.

Evadne said: "I simply should not be paying any tax on a house which is impossible to live in. It has had no doors or windows and was almost burned down.

"I could not afford to pay £4,000 at once. I am a pensioner and rent from the house provided me with extra money. Without it, I couldn't afford to fix it."

Her problems started when an eight-strong mob tore the house to pieces in an attempt to find the tenant.

Evadne added: "They thought he was a police informer and wanted to hurt him - perhaps even kill him. The police told me they knew who was responsible for the attack but there has never been an arrest."

Doors - which had been widened so she could carry her severely disabled son, who has since died, around the house - were kicked in and the bannister smashed, dragged outside and burned.

Evadne received no compensation and applied for a standard renovation grant to rebuild her house - but found herself at the back of a very long queue.

Preston council's Malcolm McCulloch said: "We have a problem in Preston, with more than 7,000 houses that need to be brought up to standard.

"Generally we do not give grants for empty houses but, because Mrs Whyte clearly didn't want to sell the house, we discussed the possibility of repairing it for her while she kept sole ownership.

"It wasn't a grant as such and we would have recouped the money from the rent she would earn."

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