THE FORMER Cromwell Street home of Frederick and Rosemary West, where the bodies of nine women and girls were discovered two years ago, will be demolished, Gloucester City Council officials announced yesterday.
All the 34 members of the council supported the decision to demolish the house. While the future of the site remains uncertain, the families of the victims will be consulted about any possible use.
At 8 a.m. on Monday morning council workmen will begin a two week operation to tear down the house at No 25, dubbed by the British press as "the house of horrors," where Frederick and Rosemary West imprisoned and murdered the nine women over a 20 year period. Netting and scaffolding will be erected above the height of the roof to prevent unwelcome attention from memorabilia seekers before the demolition begins inside. Every brick of the house will be ground into dust and the site will be covered with concrete until a decision is made on its future use, the council officials said.
The city council also disclosed that it has bought, and plans to demolish, the neighbouring property, No 23. Details of the cost of the semi detached house have not been released.
The cost of the sale and demolition work which will be carried out on the West's former home at No 25 is £40,000. It is anticipated that the money raised from the sale of No 25 Cromwell Street, which will be handled by the Official Solicitor, Mr Peter Harris, will form the mainstay of Mr West's estate. It will be added to the significant level of royalty payments from a biography of Frederick West, written by Mr Harris, which will be used to provide financial support for four of the Wests' children who are in the care of the city council. The children, aged between 13 and 17 were given new identities and moved to foster homes outside the county when details of their parents' crimes became public.
No 25 Cromwell Street had become a "physical reminder" of the terrible events that took place there over 20 years and it was "important to erase" that memory, the leader of city council Mr John Holmes said. In the event that members of the public might seek to remove "macabre memorabilia" from the house, the council said police officers would be guarding the property.
As details of the demolition were announced, one councillor, Mr Roger Welshman, who has represented the Cromwell Street area for the past 10 years, said he supported the decision of the council because he believed it was "only right" that it should take the lead to "remove the house from our city landscape".
Last night, the wrought iron address on the house which was made by Frederick West and nailed to the outside wall, was the subject of a legal row. Possession of the sign, which has been kept at Gloucester's Central Police with other personal items belonging to the West family, is being disputed by the city council and members of the West family. The council has said it would prefer that the sign be destroyed while senior members of the family are believed to have lodged a claim for its return with the Official Solicitor, Mr Harris.
Gloucester Police said they are in consultation with Mr Harris and solicitors for the city council but they have yet to make a decision on the sign.