Pressure is mounting on the owner of a crumbling Grade II-listed building after Civic Centre chiefs took the first steps towards a compulsory purchase of the site.

Solicitors are investigating whether the 'level of neglect' shown by the landlord of the Hermitage in Upper Sutton Lane, Heston, constitutes a 'wilful intention the relic building shall come to harm'. It is already included in the highest priority band of English Heritage's latest Buildings at Risk register.

Charges of neglect could significantly lower the amount of compensation the cash-strapped council would have to pay should it force the owner to relinquish the site (pictured with concerned members of Heston Residents' Association).

It is more than five years since the Hermitage, a 15th-Century thatched cottage, was gutted by fire, leading to a stalemate between planning chiefs and the owner Gurmit Singh Bhullar, whose various proposals for the site have included a 55-bed nursing home and a hotel.

Concerns heightened after protective metal roofing was blown loose, before being removed by the council on safety grounds, leaving the building open to the elements and the council warning the owner it will seek authority to carry out the work at the owner's expense if he does not act soon.

A report at last night's meeting of the Heston & Cranford Area committee revealed Civic Centre chiefs are growing increasingly exasperated with Mr Bhullar.

"Officers are consulting the borough solicitor on whether the level of neglect displayed by the owner towards his building and site constitutes a wilful intention that the relic building shall come to harm," the report says. "This should affect the level of compensation decreed by the courts should an intention to compulsorily purchase be authorised by the council."

However, Mr Bhullar denied neglecting the property. "I'm doing everything in my ability to save this building but the council isn't helping us at all," he said. "It removed the sheets and my con-tractor has tried and tried to get them back, without any luck."