Sydney home destroyed in error after letterbox 'boo-boo'

An Australian businessman returned to his home in Sydney to find his property had been demolished because builders targeted the wrong address.

Steve Ballas said he received a call at work from a friend who told him: "They're demolishing your house."

Staff at Daniel's Demolitions were instructed to tear down the property at 200 Marion Street, in Bankstown.

Mr Ballas, who lives next door at number 198, had the wrong house number displayed on his letterbox.

"I was sitting there working away and I got a call from one of my mates and he said 'They're demolishing your house'," Mr Ballas told the BBC.

He returned home to find construction workers levelling his property. To avoid a confrontation, Mr Ballas called the police.

The families whose homes were demolished by mistake

"The police stopped them, took their details. They said 'You guys have made a bit of a boo-boo here - you've knocked the wrong house down'," he said.

Mr Ballas' property has a letterbox at the front which reads "200", when in fact he lives at number 198. The number at the front of his neighbour's house - the real 200, that was to be demolished - was obscured, leading to confusion.

Mr Ballas said it was lucky that the house, which he was preparing to let, was empty at the time. "Mate, there could've been people in there," he said.

He told local programme A Current Affair that prior to the demolition, he believed that the property he had owned for a number of years was in fact 200 Marion Street.

"All I know is I thought I owned 200 Marion Street, Bankstown, and it was a little house I was going to rent. But obviously I don't have that house anymore," he said.

The City of Canterbury Bankstown Council confirmed that the demolition was an error, adding that Mr Ballas' property was positioned between the numbers 196 and 200 in Marion Street.

An investigation is under way to determine the circumstances of the error.

Mr Ballas said he had spoken with the owner of Daniel's Demolitions, who he described as being "shattered" by the news.

"It was an honest mistake. Poor bloke, he was speechless," he said.