Beijing authorities on Tuesday demolished a so-called "nail house" at the construction site of the new China Central Television (CCTV) Tower, which is currently about half completed.

The house in eastern Beijing has hampered the construction of CCTV's new complex of office buildings which is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2008 Olympic Games, sources with a local court told Xinhua.

The demolition comes a day after another controversial nail house in Chongqing was razed after the owner reached an agreement with the developer.

A nail house refers to a home left standing in the middle of a construction site after all other homes in the neighborhood have been demolished to make way for a new development. Owners of nail houses refuse to accept compensation or acknowledge eviction orders.

The construction committee in Chaoyang District of Beijing ordered the owner, surnamed Qiu, to vacate his house in November, 2005. Qiu ignored the order.

The committee then turned to the local court, which ruled in favor of the committee's eviction order.

Justice officials tried to contact Qiu many times to negotiate a settlement with him but Qiu has never responded, said the sources.

Law enforcement officials on Tuesday demolished the house after listing all of the contents of the building and moving them to another location. They videotaped the process.

Qiu was not present when his house was demolished.

(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2007)