A COMPANY has been ordered to pay £8,500 in fines and costs after knocking down a protected wall in Lymington.

Young and Partners (Developments) Ltd bulldozed part of the historic structure to enable workmen to enter adjoining land and tear down an outbuilding.

However the historic wall, thought to be at least 250-years-old and which marks the medieval boundary of a strip of land behind Lymington High Street, should never have been touched.

The firm was prosecuted by the district council for destroying the listed building and pleaded guilty to the charge before New Forest magistrates.

They were subsequently fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £1,000 in costs.

For the full story see today's Southern Daily Echo