A british builder has been arrested over his alleged role in a suspected £52million property fraud in Spain.

Trevor Bourne, 50, was held after 300 illegally built villas costing up to £1.1million were sold to British expats on the Costa Brava.

Mr Bourne, along with 15 others, is being investigated by a judge on suspicion of bribery and fraud. Investigators allege he paid backhanders to town hall officials, who then allowed him to build and sell properties on protected land.

Mr Bourne, of Port Talbot, Glamorgan, appeared in court in Denia, near Alicante, after his arrest by the Civil Guard. After giving a statement to the judge, he was released on bail. The detached houses were all put up around the village of Lliber between 1999 and 2003.

Buyers were unaware they had been built on protected rural land.

Many included pensioners who now face the threat of their dream homes in the sun being demolished.

via BRIT IN FRAUD PROBE – mirror.co.uk.