THE owner of a house partially demolished by builders who left electricity cables exposed has admitted that he gave the job to two men he spoke to in the back of his taxi.

Residents were left speechless when the terraced house in Hulton Lane, Daubhill, was suddenly ripped apart reducing it to an empty shell.

An emergency building team from Bolton Council was called in after neighbours told them the house had been left in a dangerous condition and children were playing inside.

The council builders had to remove part of the roof and the entire back wall of the house, fearing that it was in danger of collapsing. Officials from Bolton Council are trying to trace the owner of the house and left a "bill" pinned to the back door of the property seeking payment for the emergency work they carried out.

The Bolton Evening News has tracked down a man -- known only as Mr Babou -- who bought the home in an auction earlier this year for up to £25,000.

He revealed that he gave the building work to two strangers he picked up in his cab, paying them £50 each.

Neighbours said they had seen two men over the last week or so arriving at the house on a bus carrying hammers to undertake the work.

Bolton Council has also confirmed that the work undertaken by the owner did not have planning approval.

Mr Babou admitted that he was not aware he was required to obtain approval from the council before knocking the house down.

And he said he was unaware that the electricity, gas and water supplies were still connected when the house was being smashed to the ground.

The newspaper informed him that an emergency team from Bolton Council had been called in to erect temporary scaffolding and demolish the back wall to make the property safe.

Neighbours are furious that he has put the safety of children at risk. They have been seen playing in the rubble next to the live electricity wires.

Angela Speak, who lives in a neighbouring home with her two young children and her partner Marcus Welding, said she feared that the home, in the condition it had been left in, would fall down in strong winds.

And the demolition also took newsagent Paul Hampson -- who runs his business next to the demolished home -- by surprise.

"It's a disaster really," he said. "Blokes just used to turn up on the bus and smash away at the building with hammers."

Mr Babou visited the property late on Friday afternoon with a builder to inspect the council's emergency work.

He soon left, taking with him a notice pinned to the back door addressed to him from the council's contractors.

The taxi driver, who works for Heaton Private Hire, said he gave the demolition work to two strangers who he picked up in the back of his cab.

He blamed the situation on them for abandoning the demoliton project after hiring them for £50 each.

"The people who were working for me on the house disappeared without warning," he said. "It's not being demolished, it's just like doing some work at your home."

He refused to comment when asked about the risk he had posed to neighbours and playing children.

Mr Babou bought the house at auction a couple of months ago for a figure believed to be in the region of £20,000 to £25,000.

He is considering turning the house into a hairdressing salon but has not submitted a planning application.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: "Our involvement is fairly limited after going in and making the property safe.

"We have charged the owner for the work but have yet to trace him. If we cannot trace him, the charge will lie against the property."