A GWENT school teacher is facing financial ruin after claiming she had to bulldoze her dream home over fears it could collapse.

Sara Thomas, 32, says she is facing a £100,000 bill to rebuild her dormer bungalow after fearing it could have collapsed.

She says she had to reduce the £160,000 bungalow in Beaufort Hill, Ebbw Vale, to rubble for safety reasons after discovering it was built on top of a 15in diameter steelworks water pipe.

Miss Thomas bought the 43-year-old property 14 months ago.

The pipe was discovered during work to build an extension. It was directly underneath the foundations and bearing some of the weight of the house. Work was immediately stopped and architects Peter Barnes Associates said work could not proceed with the original foundations.

Miss Thomas feared if the pipe fractured it could erode the foundations and wash the building away and decided demolition was the only option. Her insurance did not cover the cost of the work and she believes Blaenau Gwent council should bear some responsibility.

It is claimed the inspector who approved the construction of the original bungalow in 1962, failed to disclose it was being built on top of a water pipe.

But a council spokeswoman said yesterday: "There is not a problem with houses being built over water feeder pipes, so l from front page long as appropriate foundations are ensured to accommodate the weight of the building."

She also said if the existing building was "considered dangerous the council would have taken formal action to remove the danger". Miss Thomas said: "It is lucky nobody was killed because the whole house could have come tumbling down."

The bungalow is now being built from scratch after a new foundation was built to bridge the pipe.

Miss Thomas said: "It has been an absolute nightmare. I've got a mortgage but no home."

The primary school teacher has taken a second job as a lecturer in the evenings to help pay the bills and is living with her parents. "It was my dream home and I hope it still will be. "I've worked so hard over the years and I just wanted somewhere to settle down," she said.