Demolition work has finally begun on a city centre home which began to collapse more than 15 months ago.

The terraced house, on the end of a row of houses on Finkelgate, was forced to shut on Christmas Eve 2010 after cracks appeared in the house at number 16.

Finkelgate, which connects Queens Road with Ber Street, was closed to traffic once more on Monday so that preliminary demolition work could be carried out.

The road – which was previously closed for almost a year – may be closed for around two weeks, when it is hoped that the road will be able to be re-opened in one direction before being fully open to traffic again in the summer.

There were initial fears the house could collapse because of its severe subsidence and scaffolding was later erected to stabilise it.

The building had sunk to around 30m deep and, with water from a burst water main making the situation worse, the situation has become a long-running saga.

Norwich City Council approved proposals to knock down the house, paving the way for the work to begin. The council will have to pick up part of the bill but a claim will be made against the insurers.

The authority's work will include testing the road to make sure it is safe, with the project expected to take approximately four months to complete.

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