Vigilante conservation has arrived in Britain: residents of King's Lynn, Norfolk, have taken the repair of a boarded-up Grade II listed 17th-century building into their own hands.

Ken Hill and a group of his neighbours repainted the doors of Purfleet House, built in about 1680 for Sir John Turner, a wine merchant and MP, because they were “tired of having this eyesore as a neighbour”.

By coincidence the empty building, on the town's historic quay, is less than 100 yards from the home of Simon Thurley, the chief executive of English Heritage. Mr Thurley was one of dozens of neighbours to receive a mailshot from Mr Hill urging them to join a day of direct action “and demonstrate your commitment to improving the neighbourhood”. The protesters pinned a notice to the building, sanded down the doors and applied primer, undercoat and two top coats of a professionally mixed paint matched from a fragment of original blue from one of the doors. The work, pictured half-finished, took three weeks.

Purfleet House is next to Custom House, a Grade I listed building of 1683 that was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as “one of the most perfect buildings ever built”. Purfleet House, also known as the rear of 1King Street, is on Norfolk County Council's Buildings at Risk Register. The entry reads: “Rear of building is neglected. Blocked gutters and parapet requires attention. Boarded up.” John Selby, conservation officer for the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, said: “It detracts from the setting of Custom House, which is the town's iconic building, and at the moment there is nothing we can do about it.”

Purfleet House has been empty since it was bought more than eight years ago by Roger Gawn, a property developer who also owns Custom House as well as Melton Constable Hall, the Grade I listed Norfolk pile that was the setting for The GoBetween, the 1970 film starring Alan Bates and Julie Christie.

Mr Hill, 74, a former journalist, said: “We did it because the place looks terrible - we painted the doors as a demonstration of how we feel about how the building looks, hoping that Mr Gawn would be spurred into doing something about it. We are now thinking about painting the windows, which are boarded up.”

Mr Thurley declined to comment to The Times. Mr Hill said of his neighbour: “I put a letter through his door but I did not get a response. I think he's too busy, and he's just had twins.”

Mr Gawn rejected the claim that Purfleet House was an eyesore: “Mr Hill seems to be running a vendetta. Why, I don't know.” He added: “We've done all the external work: new roofs, parapets, slates, stone copings, brickwork, and all the leadwork.” The windows were boarded up to stop infestation by pigeons; new windows had been made and were sitting inside, he said.

Mr Gawn said that he was planning an hotel and restaurant. “We can't do any more work to it [Purfleet House] until approval is given.” He added: “If Mr Thurley would like to come and have a look at it I would be delighted.

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