A MUSICIAN owed hundreds of thousands of pounds by a Poole developer has warned that she may take steps to wind up the company.
Rachel Gibson, 38, successfully sued Gee Developments Ltd after it sold her a flat in Flaghead Road, Poole - but failed to mention that the giant feature window breached a planning condition and should have had obscure glazing.
Just weeks after she moved in, a planning enforcement officer informed her the window, with its panoramic views which had "sold the flat" to her, would have to be covered up permanently.
The flautist and pianist took the developers to court, and in June a county judge ordered Gee to buy back the property for the £345,000 she paid, and her costs, within 14 days.
But she says she has not received a penny, and property mogul Eddie Mitchell, a director at Gee as well as boss of Seven Developments, has said he can't afford to pay.
In a statement, Mr Mitchell, thought to be on holiday in Dubai, said: "Gee Developments is at present unable to produce the funds to purchase back Miss Gibson's apartment.
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"However, if the decline in asset value halts and Gee Developments is able to sell some of its stock, then conditions may enable Gee Developments to buy back the apartment."
In a bid to recoup some of the money, Miss Gibson put her property on the market. But after weeks without a viewing, she has been advised to drop the price to £249,950 - £95,000 less than she paid.
Mr Mitchell has said he will install a new balcony and windows, which is Miss Gibson's last hope to help it sell.
She told the Daily Echo: "I'm waiting for him to come back from holiday to get an answer on that - then I might at least have a chance of selling it.
"But if not then I will have no choice but to start winding-up proceedings."
Mr Mitchell told the Echo he believed the fall in value did not have anything to do with the obscured window - which is the only one in the apartment with a view.
He said: "The only variation in value is due to the market value of apartments in particular, falling over the last year."
Miss Gibson has already issued a statutory demand for payment. The next step will be to serve a winding-up petition.
In a separate case brought by Borough of Poole environmental and consumer protection, Gee Developments Ltd, of Sandbanks Road, was fined £3,300 and ordered to pay costs at a hearing before Wimborne magistrates on August 11.
Mr Mitchell pleaded guilty on behalf of the company to two offences under the Property Misdescriptions Act.
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