BUILDERS will face a race against time to repair the crumbling house of retired sisters by Christmas.

Kate and Maureen Poole spent last winter with their home in Buckhurst Hill High Road exposed to the elements, after they came back from a holiday to find their next door neighbour had torn down his semi-detached house.

They have been pushing their neighbour to repair the wall between the properties, which filled up with snow and ice over last year's harsh winter, and his architect has finally agreed to prop it up and repair its cracks over the next month.

“I hope there will be more of a wall there over the winter than there was last year,” said Maureen Poole. “Things seem to be moving.

“Last year, we had snow and ice leaking through from next door. It was in the wall, because there was no protection from it.

“We have a very large radiator in the hall and it was not making any difference. We were spending money on heating that was having no effect.”

Water has been leaking through to the sisters' house after a bathroom roof was ripped off with the demolition next door and their neighbour's architect has also agreed to fix this by Christmas.

Planning permission for a replacement semi-detached house on the site next door has now been granted, but agents for the application, John Lucas Associates, said the date that building work would start was still being worked out.

Cracks have appeared in the interior walls of the sisters' house, chunks have fallen from its porch and their front door has been blocked off since the demolition next door.

Redbridge Council, which is the planning authority for the area, has said there is nothing it can do to force their neighbour, Toki Kahn, to repair the damage.