A Keighley builder has stepped in to rescue a woman in a long-running dispute over a modern end-terraced home extension.

Andy Reynoldson demolished the add-on at the house in Harefield Close, Eastburn, and rebuilt it for owner Julie Steed.

Mrs Steed, 53, is suing the previous builder whose work was deemed by Bradford Council officers not to meet building regulations.

She said: “Andy has done a great job but I’m still thousands of pounds out of pocket.”

Mr Reynoldson, who is in the process of setting up his own business, said: “I did some of the work for nothing because she’s lost a lot of money.

Mrs Steed said it had been a bad experience and she was taking legal action to recover her costs. She had spent £10,000 on labour and £4,000 on materials since the job was started in November 2008 by her previous builder.

City Hall experts listed a catalogue of faults with the work. The new wall was not “bonded” to the existing home properly. causing cracks between the joints in the extension and existing wall. The damp-proof course and internal tanking had not been installed properly and the cavity wall was not in true alignment vertically. The ventilation to the new building was also inadequate.

At the time of the initial complaint, her original builder said he had not refused to go back and rectify the problem, and he did not believe it was necessary to demolish the building and the faults could be put right.

Bradford Council’s Building Control Service experts said the structure was not immediately dangerous but it broke certain building regulations and would almost certainly have to be pulled down and rebuilt.