THE roof has been torn off the UK's “biggest man cave”, which is finally being demolished after a decade-long planning battle.

Millionaire Graham Wildin, 70, continuously defied court orders to knock down his illegal 10,000sq/ft leisure complex in his Forest of Dean garden – and has even served jail time over it.

The row has been ongoing since 2014 when he built the 'man cave' with a bowling alley, squash court, casino, bar and cinema at the back of his Meendhurst Road home in Cinderford without planning permission.

The Forest Council started pulling it down in June – and new drone pictures show the shell of the building with the roof stripped off and the gutted inside.

There was no sign of the plush squash courts, soft play area, cinema or bowling alley which can be seen in a video of the complex when it was first built.

An onlooker said: "It really looks nothing like the plush leisure centre which we once saw there."

Wildin's first of five court defeats came in September 2018 when a High Court injunction was handed down initially giving him until the end of April 2020 to remove the building, which is just over 10 miles from Monmouth.

He failed to comply with the order and was given a suspended sentence in June 2021.

The accountant then lost an appeal against the sentence at the Court of Appeal that November and was ordered to demolish the complex by March 10 2022.

But when Wildin’s defiance continued, the six-week suspended sentence for contempt of court was activated on August 13. 2022.

Once released from HMP Cardiff, he was given 18 weeks to “soft strip” the interior of the building to make it unusable.

That deadline expired in January 2023 and last year was his fifth court defeat as his sentence was upheld and he was ordered to pay £9,962 in costs to the district council - despite claiming he had now sold it all to a Mexican man for just £1.

It was reported in September 2023 that he had been issued an interim injunction to stop him harassing neighbours with parking and CCTV.

Wildin’s neighbours alleged he was taking his frustration with the council out on them by clogging up the street’s parking spaces with his fleet of classic cars.

In December he was given a final injunction, allowing him to only park two cars on the road plus provision for two visitors, who can only stay for a maximum of eight hours.

The judge also ordered that CCTV surveillance cameras be removed from the exterior of any vehicle or any extendable pole.

Last March, the council granted temporary permission for the six-bedroom home beside the 'man cave' - now thought to be owned by his family – to become a holiday let, despite locals worries over noise, cars and "noisy revellers".

A Forest Council spokesperson said: “As a council it is our duty to ensure that planning and development proposals comply with the law and bring benefit to the local area, whilst also safeguarding the community.

“Hundreds of people every year follow the correct process for planning applications and development, sadly this has not been the case at this location.

“It is important to note that the cost of this process should not be borne by the taxpayer, and we will look to recover the full cost of the demolition from the landowner in due course.

“We will work closely with our demolition contractor, to limit any disruption for residents.

''We would like to also take this opportunity to thank the people living in close proximity to this property for their patience during this lengthy legal process.”