FOR eight years he called it home - yesterday he saw it reduced to a pile of rubble.

Philip White, 76, said he will miss glancing across at his former prefab home when he drives to his bungalow in Ridgeway, Newport.

Five of the remaining derelict properties on the site are also being demolished and the pensioner looked on as his was pulled down.

"It's a sad day because I really enjoyed living in the prefab," he said. "It was nice and quiet and it had a lovely garden.

"It's like a little part of my life has been taken away. It was sad seeing it decay but I will miss seeing it every day."

Mr White moved into the prefab with his late wife, Cathleen, 75, in 1986. He moved into a bungalow a stone's throw away eight years later.

"The bungalow is much warmer and it's a lot more convenient but it's nice to think I lived in a home which is now part of Newport's history."

Newport Housing Trust said five empty prefabs, which were a target for vandals and arsonists, are being pulled down this week.

The trust began the task of replacing 600 of the buildings with bungalows in 2001.

The last derelict properties - eight at the Gaer - will be demolished in the summer.

The decision to demolish came days after a man was taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation after one of the derelict prefabs in Ridgeway went up in flames.

Trust director Phil Toms agreed the derelict buildings were posing a problem.

Newport city councillor Matthew Evans, whose ward includes Ridgeway, said he was relieved the buildings were coming down.

"It's good news because residents have been really worried about them," he said. "These buildings have been derelict for well over a year."