ALTERATIONS to a listed building which is home to one of the region's top fee-paying schools landed a governor a bill for £36,000 yesterday.

Brian Martin, chairman of governors at Queen Ethelburga's College, which is housed in the Edwardian Thorpe Underwood Hall, close to Green Hammerton, near York, appeared at Harrogate Magistrates' Court where he admitted two offences of breaching planning laws governing buildings listed for their architectural or historic merit.

The hall, built in 1902, is one of only 120 in the Harrogate distrct to have a Grade II* rating.

The college moved to Thorpe Underwood a decade ago after operating in Harrogate for many years.

The case, which goes back to August 1998, had been listed for trial over five days, but Martin, who lives at Monk's House, on the Thorpe Underwood Estate, changed his plea last week and a further count involving removal of partition walls was dropped.

He pleaded guilty to having one of the hall's four chimney stacks and a chimney breast knocked down and was fined a total of £6,000. He was also ordered to pay costs of £30,000.

Stuart Brown, QC, prosecuting for Harrogate Borough Council, said Martin had bought the W H Brearley-designed hall in 1980, but conveyed it to an offshore company registered in the British Virgin Islands eight years later, for tax reasons. The college moved there in 1991.

Nicholas Dyson, for Martin, said his client was a private man who was desperately supportive of the school and worried about damage to it.

Martin had bought the hall when it had declined to a poor state of repair.

He had taken the building in hand, and restored it through a lot of time and effort.

He had not sought to gain financially by having the alterations done, and had accepted the blame for what had happened.

A school was being created from scratch and some corners may have been cut, but Martin had acted on professional advice, the court heard