Water tower owner comes a cropper from small print.

Oh dear, the Telegraph has reported that a first time buyer who paid £30,000 for a disused Ministry of Defence water tower to convert it into a dream home has found he can only legally access it by plane or helicopter.
The 60-year-old, 150ft tower at RAF Locking, near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, last month was snapped by by 20 year old Ashley Parsons for a mere £30,000 last month.

Mr Parsons now legally owns the tower but has no access to it from the public highway as the vendors have refused to grant access across the surrounding land which they retained.

We have to ask, didn't he have a solicitor?

This is not the first tower which can't get any access that BWTAS has heard of but we'd better not jeopardise ongoing negotiations by naming them.

More on the story and pictures from the Daily Mail

UPDATE 2/2/09

This is Bristol.co.uk reports Ashley Parsons is committed to proceed and sort out the legalities later. A legally trained mind advises BWTAS that if Mr Parsons does have access to undertake repairs and a conversion, what would stop him taking ten or twenty years to complete it? This is a common scenario in some countries that waive community taxes whilst houses are under construction. Net result: buildings are never officially finished!