The owners of a crumbling property in Norfolk's "Jeeves and Wooster" village have been fined £2,000 each for failing to have repairs carried out and charged more than £4,000 after the council stepped in to do the work.

West Norfolk Council ordered Paul Grafton and Bonita Bulaitis, who own the house at Old Hunstanton on a street with an average house price of more than £1m, to make repairs two years ago.

An enforcement notice issued in November 2022 said they had to remove boarding from windows, replace broken panes, replace missing roof tiles, repair broken gutters and remove vegetation from the garden and drive.

The house at Old Hunstanton which has been the subject of council enforcement actionThe house at Old Hunstanton which has been the subject of council enforcement action (Image: Chris Bishop) The couple, from Elmsett, near Ipswich, were also ordered to re-paint the exterior of the property and replace a broken gate.

But the work was not carried out on the house on leafy Wodehouse Road, named after author PG Wodehouse, where the average property is worth £1.1m according to the website Rightmove.

Now the council has prosecuted the couple, who were each fined £2,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £800 and costs of £1,067.75 when the case went to court in May. 

A Google image of the property from May, 2023A Google image of the property from May, 2023 (Image: Google) It has also carried out some of the work on the house, including clearing the garden and repairing the gate, for which the couple will be invoiced for £4,155.

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A West Norfolk Council spokesman said: "The council received a complaint about the state of the property in 2021 and took steps to contact the owners.

The property which has been the subject of council enforcement actionThe property which has been the subject of council enforcement action (Image: Chris Bishop)

"The council has made significant efforts over a period of at least three years to get the owners to address the issues raised, without success.

"As a last resort, the council took Mr Grafton and Ms Bulaitis to court on May 22 for two counts of failing to comply with a notice to improve their property. Neither of attended court.

“The charges were found proven and Mr Grafton and Ms Bulaitis both fined £1,000 for each of the two charges, plus a victim surcharge of £800 and £1,067.75 costs."

Part of the council's enforcement noticePart of the council's enforcement notice (Image: Public Domain)

“In September and October the council undertook some remedial work to the property.

"Having reviewed the works required by the notice with contractors the council decided not to proceed with every item, for example replacing windows, as the property was now in such a poor condition it was beyond these repairs and it would have been unsafe to attempt them.

"Mr Grafton and Ms Bulaitis will be billed £4,155 for the work that was carried out."

The house on Wodehouse Road, at Old HunstantonThe house on Wodehouse Road, at Old Hunstanton (Image: Chris Bishop) Neighbours said they had never seen Mr Grafton or Ms Bulaitis at the property.

Land Registry records say the couple bought the house for £440,000 in July, 2011.

Sedate Old Hunstanton, with its picturesque beach, was frequently visited by PG Wodehouse, who featured its hall in some of his much-loved Jeeves and Wooster stories.