Chinese build motorway around stubborn homeowners

You thought the British were defiant in the face of motorway building.

But campaigners who stand up against Tarmacing over great swathes of British countryside should take note of an elderly couple in in the city of Wenling, China.

Luo Baogen and his wife refused point blank to leave their home when developers knocked on the door asking to demolish their abode to build a new road.

The couple were distinctly unimpressed at the compensation pay-out offered by the Chinese Government and decided to stay put.

Now the Baogens live in their partly-demolished five-storey house smack bang in the middle of a large motorway which has yet to be officially opened, after the road developers refused to let the small problem of a house get in the way of their contractual duties.

And to ensure they remain "safe" in their home, adjacent rooms have been left intact.

The Baogens' behaviour is not surprising, however. During a large part of China's Communist era, moving people on from their homes was easy.

But now thanks to tightened rules and new laws, compulsory purchase orders are illegal. To demolish a property, an agreement has to take place prior to the bulldozers moving in