Developers demolish all the stairways of a building in bid to evict family on the seventh storey



A furious family is suing property developers after they demolished every staircase in a seven-storey apartment block to make them quit their top floor flat.

Mum Zhao Yanhong, 42, claims developers - who want to demolish the flats in Mianyang, south west China, to build a factory - hired thugs to force out other residents but she refused to budge.

'Then one day they turned up with machines and men and knocked out all the stairs to strand us here. They are just trying to bully us out of our home,' said Yanhong.

The flower boxes and awnings on the seventh floor of this building are the home of Zhao Yanhong, who claims developers knocked out all the stairs to strand her family and force them to move out

'The only way we can get out now is through ladders and climbing but it is very dangerous,' she added.

Developers from Mianyang Yachuan Property Company claim they own the property and have permission to demolish it but deny any wrong doing.

Now judges have ordered them to suspend all work for six months while they investigate and restore one staircase for Yanhong's family.

A back view of the building, where the family still lives. They use ladders and climb up, but a judge has ordered one stairway restored while work is suspended for six months



